ACCESS and LRG-BEASTS: A Precise New Optical Transmission Spectrum of the Ultrahot Jupiter WASP-103b

• Published in: The Astronomical journal 2021-07, Vol.162 (1), p.34
• Main Authors: Kirk, James, Rackham, Benjamin V., MacDonald, Ryan J., López-Morales, Mercedes, Espinoza, Néstor, Lendl, Monika, Wilson, Jamie, Osip, David J., Wheatley, Peter J., Skillen, Ian, Apai, Dániel, Bixel, Alex, Gibson, Neale P., Jordán, Andrés, Lewis, Nikole K., Louden, Tom, McGruder, Chima D., Nikolov, Nikolay, Rodler, Florian, Weaver, Ian C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Astronomy; ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; Exoplanet astronomy; Exoplanet atmospheres; Exoplanet atmospheric composition; Extrasolar gaseous giant planets; Extrasolar planets; F stars; Ground-based observation; Hot Jupiters; HYDROCYANIC ACID; Infrared analysis; Infrared transmission; INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; Jupiter; JUPITER PLANET; LIGHT TRANSMISSION; Planet hosting stars; Polls & surveys; SCALE HEIGHT; SPECTRA; STARS; STELLAR ACTIVITY; TEMPERATURE INVERSIONS; TITANIUM OXIDES; Transit
• ISSN: 0004-6256; 1538-3881; 1538-3881
• DOI: 10.3847/1538-3881/abfcd2

We present a new ground-based optical transmission spectrum of the ultrahot Jupiter WASP-103b ( T eq = 2484 K). Our transmission spectrum is the result of combining five new transits from the ACCESS survey and two new transits from the LRG-BEASTS survey with a reanalysis of three archival Gemini/GMOS transits and one VLT/FORS2 transit. Our combined 11-transit transmission spectrum covers a wavelength range of 3900–9450 Å with a median uncertainty in the transit depth of 148 parts per million, which is less than one atmospheric scale height of the planet. In our retrieval analysis of WASP-103b’s combined optical and infrared transmission spectrum, we find strong evidence for unocculted bright regions (4.3 σ ) and weak evidence for H 2 O ( 1.9 σ ), HCN ( 1.7 σ ), and TiO ( 2.1 σ ), which could be responsible for WASP-103b’s observed temperature inversion. Our optical transmission spectrum shows significant structure that is in excellent agreement with the extensively studied ultrahot Jupiter WASP-121b, for which the presence of VO has been inferred. For WASP-103b, we find that VO can only provide a reasonable fit to the data if its abundance is implausibly high and we do not account for stellar activity. Our results highlight the precision that can be achieved by ground-based observations and the impacts that stellar activity from F-type stars can have on the interpretation of exoplanet transmission spectra.