The Hubble PanCET Program: A Featureless Transmission Spectrum for WASP-29b and Evidence of Enhanced Atmospheric Metallicity on WASP-80b

TL;DR

This study analyzes the atmospheres of two warm gas giants, WASP-29b and WASP-80b, using Hubble and Spitzer data, revealing featureless spectra for WASP-29b and evidence of enhanced metallicity and water in WASP-80b.

Contribution

First uniform analysis of these planets' transmission spectra showing aerosol effects and metallicity estimates, with new evidence of atmospheric composition and cloud properties.

Findings

WASP-29b has a flat spectrum indicating clouds and limited compositional constraints.

WASP-80b shows water absorption and high metallicity evidence.

Both planets exhibit weak day-night heat transport and low albedo.

Abstract

We present a uniform analysis of transit observations from the Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope of two warm gas giants orbiting K-type stars - WASP-29b and WASP-80b. The transmission spectra, which span 0.4-5.0 $\mu$m, are interpreted using a suite of chemical equilibrium PLATON atmospheric retrievals. Both planets show evidence of significant aerosol opacity along the day-night terminator. The spectrum of WASP-29b is flat throughout the visible and near-infrared, suggesting the presence of condensate clouds extending to low pressures. The lack of spectral features hinders our ability to constrain the atmospheric metallicity and C/O ratio. In contrast, WASP-80b shows a discernible, albeit muted H$_2$O absorption feature at 1.4 $\mu$m, as well as a steep optical spectral slope that is caused by fine-particle aerosols and/or contamination from unocculted spots on the variable host star. WASP-80b joins the small number of gas-giant exoplanets that show evidence for enhanced atmospheric metallicity: the transmission spectrum is consistent with metallicities ranging from $\sim$30-100 times solar in the case of cloudy limbs to a few hundred times solar in the cloud-free scenario. In addition to the detection of water, we infer the presence of CO$_2$ in the atmosphere of WASP-80b based on the enhanced transit depth in the Spitzer 4.5 $\mu$m bandpass. From a complementary analysis of Spitzer secondary eclipses, we find that the dayside emission from WASP-29b and WASP-80b is consistent with brightness temperatures of $937 \pm 48$ and $851 \pm 14$ K, respectively, indicating relatively weak day-night heat transport and low Bond albedo.