A First Look at CRIRES+: Performance Assessment and Exoplanet Spectroscopy

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the performance of the new CRIRES+ spectrograph for exoplanet atmospheric studies, demonstrating its high resolving power and successful detection of atmospheric molecules in an ultra-hot Jupiter, showcasing its scientific potential.

Contribution

First assessment of CRIRES+ performance for exoplanet spectroscopy, including data reduction strategies and a pioneering atmospheric characterization of MASCARA-1 b.

Findings

CRIRES+ achieves spectral resolution R ≥ 100,000.

Successful detection of CO and H₂O in MASCARA-1 b's atmosphere.

First identification of temperature inversion in an exoplanet.

Abstract

High-resolution spectroscopy has proven to be a powerful avenue for atmospheric remote sensing of exoplanets. Recently, ESO commissioned the CRIRES+ high-resolution infrared spectrograph at VLT. CRIRES+ is a cross-dispersed spectrograph with high throughput and wide wavelength coverage across the near-infrared (0.95-5.3 $\mu$m), designed to be particularly suited for atmospheric characterisation of exoplanets. In this work, we report early insights into the performance of CRIRES+ for exoplanet spectroscopy and conduct a detailed assessment of the data reduction procedure. Because of the novelty of the instrument, we perform two independent data reduction strategies, using the official CR2RES pipeline and our new custom-built ExoRES pipeline. Using science verification observations we find that the spectral resolving power of CRIRES+ can reach $R \gtrsim 100,000$ for optimal observing conditions. Similarly, we find the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) to be consistent with expected and empirical estimates for the observations considered. As a case study, we perform the first application of CRIRES+ to the atmospheric characterisation of an exoplanet - the ultra-hot Jupiter MASCARA-1 b. We detect CO and H$_2$O in the atmosphere of MASCARA-1 b at a S/N of 12.9 and 5.3, respectively, and a temperature inversion revealed through the CO and H$_2$O emission lines, the first for an exoplanet. We find a combined S/N of 13.8 for CO and H$_2$O together, with a preference for lower H$_2$O abundance compared to CO. Our findings demonstrate the scientific potential of CRIRES+ and highlight the excellent opportunity for high-resolution atmospheric spectroscopy of diverse exoplanets.