Confirmation of Fe I on MASCARA-5 b's Dayside Observed With EXPRES

TL;DR

This study confirms the presence of gaseous Fe I on MASCARA-5 b's dayside using EXPRES, revealing an inverted thermal atmosphere and potential wind-induced blueshift, advancing atmospheric characterization of ultra-hot Jupiters.

Contribution

First high-resolution optical spectroscopic confirmation of Fe I on MASCARA-5 b's dayside with detailed thermal and wind analysis.

Findings

Fe I detected with 5.5 sigma significance.

Thermal profile shows inversion with temperatures ~2000 K and ~4500 K.

Pre-eclipse blueshift of -3.2 km/s suggests atmospheric winds.

Abstract

MASCARA-5~b/TOI-1431~b is an ultra-hot Jupiter \citep[$P_{\rm orb}=2.650237\pm0.000003\,{\rm d}$, $T_{\rm eq}=2370\pm70\,{\rm K}$, $M_{\rm p}=3.12\pm0.18\,M_{\rm Jup}$, $R_{\rm p}=1.49\pm0.05\,R_{\rm Jup}$;][]{addison2021} orbiting a bright Am star ($V=8.0\,{\rm mag}$). Recent time-series observations obtained with PEPSI@LBT during the planet's post-eclipse phases have revealed Fe~{\sc i} emission lines indicative of a thermally inverted atmosphere. These observations demonstrate that MASCARA-5~b is well-suited to atmospheric characterization via emission spectroscopy, thereby motivating further follow-up observations covering additional orbital phases to constrain the planet's atmospheric chemistry, thermal structure, and dynamics. Here we present pre-eclipse time-series observations obtained with the high-resolution optical spectrograph EXPRES@LDT. Our analysis confirms the previous detection of gas-phase Fe~{\sc i} on MASCARA-5~b's dayside (with a $5.5\sigma$ significance obtained from two nights of observations) and the fact that the thermal profile is inverted with lower and upper temperatures $\sim2000\,{\rm K}$ and $\sim4500\,{\rm K}$, respectively. A search for Fe~{\sc ii} and Cr~{\sc i} did not yield any plausible detections. We also find that the pre-eclipse signal exhibits a non-negligible blueshift of $-3.2\pm1.4\,{\rm km/s}$ potentially caused by winds.