Two-Dimensional Eclipse Mapping of the Hot Jupiter WASP-43b with JWST MIRI/LRS

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates two-dimensional thermal emission mapping of the hot Jupiter WASP-43b using JWST MIRI/LRS phase curve data, revealing a significant eastward hot-spot shift and validating the spherical harmonic mapping approach.

Contribution

The study introduces a method for eclipse mapping of exoplanet atmospheres using spherical harmonics and compares different harmonic orders, advancing the analysis of planetary thermal emission structures.

Findings

Detected a meridionally-averaged eastward hot-spot shift of 7.75°

Identified latitudinal and longitudinal emission signals of ~200 ppm and ~250 ppm

Validated the spherical harmonic mapping approach with consistent results across different methods

Abstract

We present eclipse maps of the two-dimensional thermal emission from the dayside of the hot Jupiter WASP-43b, derived from an observation of a phase curve with the JWST MIRI/LRS instrument. The observed eclipse shapes deviate significantly from those expected for a planet emitting uniformly over its surface. We fit a map to this deviation, constructed from spherical harmonics up to order $\ell_{\rm max}=2$, alongside the planetary, orbital, stellar, and systematic parameters. This yields a map with a meridionally-averaged eastward hot-spot shift of $(7.75 \pm 0.36)^{\circ}$, with no significant degeneracy between the map and the additional parameters. We show the latitudinal and longitudinal contributions of the day-side emission structure to the eclipse shape, finding a latitudinal signal of $\sim$200 ppm and a longitudinal signal of $\sim$250 ppm. To investigate the sensitivity of the map to the method, we fix the non-mapping parameters and derive an "eigenmap" fitted with an optimised number of orthogonal phase curves, which yields a similar map to the $\ell_{\rm max}=2$ map. We also fit a map up to $\ell_{\rm max}=3$, which shows a smaller hot-spot shift, with a larger uncertainty. These maps are similar to those produced by atmospheric simulations. We conclude that there is a significant mapping signal which constrains the spherical harmonic components of our model up to $\ell_{\rm max}=2$. Alternative mapping models may derive different structures with smaller-scale features; we suggest that further observations of WASP-43b and other planets will drive the development of more robust methods and more accurate maps.