BOWIE-ALIGN: A JWST comparative survey of aligned vs misaligned hot Jupiters to test the dependence of atmospheric composition on migration history

TL;DR

This study uses JWST transmission spectroscopy to compare atmospheric compositions of aligned and misaligned hot Jupiters, testing how migration history influences their C/O ratios and atmospheric chemistry.

Contribution

It introduces a novel survey comparing aligned and misaligned hot Jupiters to investigate the impact of migration on atmospheric composition, specifically C/O ratios.

Findings

Survey sensitivity is sufficient to detect predicted C/O differences.

Aligned and misaligned hot Jupiters show potential compositional distinctions.

Methodology combines noise simulations and atmospheric retrievals for robust analysis.

Abstract

A primary objective of exoplanet atmosphere characterisation is to learn about planet formation and evolution, however, this is challenged by degeneracies. To determine whether differences in atmospheric composition can be reliably traced to differences in evolution, we are undertaking a transmission spectroscopy survey with JWST to compare the compositions of a sample of hot Jupiters that have different orbital alignments around F stars above the Kraft break. Under the assumption that aligned planets migrate through the inner disc, while misaligned planets migrate after disc dispersal, the act of migrating through the inner disc should cause a measurable difference in the C/O between aligned and misaligned planets. We expect the amplitude and sign of this difference to depend on the amount of planetesimal accretion and whether silicates accreted from the inner disc release their oxygen. Here, we identify all known exoplanets that are suitable for testing this hypothesis, describe our JWST survey, and use noise simulations and atmospheric retrievals to estimate our survey's sensitivity. With the selected sample of four aligned and four misaligned hot Jupiters, we will be sensitive to the predicted differences in C/O between aligned and misaligned hot Jupiters for a wide range of model scenarios.