The Days Drag On on WASP-121 b: Interpreting its NIRISS Spectroscopic Phase Curve with General Circulation Models

TL;DR

This study compares JWST/NIRISS spectroscopic phase curves of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-121 b with advanced 3-D models, revealing insights into atmospheric phenomena, model-data discrepancies, and the importance of accurate planetary parameters.

Contribution

The paper introduces detailed 3-D atmospheric models for WASP-121 b that incorporate physical effects like dissociation, recombination, and magnetism, and compares them with JWST observations.

Findings

Models predict 12% higher emission than observed.

Evidence of strong atmospheric drag on WASP-121 b.

Nightside clouds likely explain featureless emission spectrum.

Abstract

Ultra-hot Jupiters present extreme atmospheric phenomena not found in the Solar System. These planets' daysides experience strong temperature inversions, molecular species (including H2) dissociate, and magnetism disrupts their atmospheric circulation. On their nightsides H2 can recombine and clouds may form. Spectroscopic phase curves let us measure these spatially inhomogeneous conditions, which can then be interpreted with three-dimensional (3-D) models. In this work we compare the JWST/NIRISS spectroscopic phase curve of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-121 b to state-of-the-art 3-D models with varying modeling assumptions, including the aforementioned physical phenomena. We demonstrate the importance of accurately accounting for the planet's radius in comparison between data and models, as it changes the implied overall planetary emission. We find that the 3-D models predict planet emission $\sim$12% higher than observed, contributing to a continued tension between measured and predicted hot Jupiter albedos. We identify multiple pieces of evidence that confirm a strong source of drag operating in this planet's atmosphere. In addition, the nightside emission spectrum is devoid of strong absorption features, which may be best explained by nightside clouds. One feature of the dataset that is not matched by the 3-D models is a trend of increasing eastward phase offset with decreasing wavelength, for wavelengths shorter than $\sim$1.4 \textmu m. This result is not consistent with reflection from dayside clouds, nor can it be explained by removing atmospheric opacity sources. Our analysis highlights the complexities in generating 3-D models and interpreting observations of ultra-hot Jupiters in the JWST era.