| Title: |
A Carbon-rich Atmosphere on a Windy Pulsar Planet |
| Authors: |
Zhang, M; Beleznay, M; Brandt, TD; Romani, RW; Gao, P; Beltz, H; Bailes, M; Nixon, MC; Bean, JL; Komacek, TD; Coy, BP; Fu, G; Luque, R; Reardon, DJ; Carli, E; Shannon, RM; Fortney, JJ; Piette, AAA; Miller, MC; Desert, J |
| Publisher Information: |
American Astronomical Society |
| Publication Year: |
2025 |
| Collection: |
Oxford University Research Archive (ORA) |
| Description: |
A handful of enigmatic Jupiter-mass objects have been discovered orbiting pulsars. One such object, PSR J2322–2650b, uniquely resembles a hot-Jupiter exoplanet, due to its minimum density of 1.8 g cm−3 and its ∼1900 K equilibrium temperature. We use JWST to observe PSR J2322–2650b’s emission spectrum across an entire orbit. In stark contrast to every known exoplanet orbiting a main-sequence star, we find an atmosphere rich in molecular carbon (C3, C2) with strong westward winds. Our observations open up new exoplanetary chemical (ultrahigh C/O and C/N ratios of >100 and >10,000, respectively) and dynamical regimes (ultrafast rotation with external irradiation) to observational study. The extreme carbon enrichment poses a severe challenge to the current understanding of “black-widow” companions, which were expected to consist of a wider range of elements due to their origins as stripped stellar cores. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: |
English |
| DOI: |
10.3847/2041-8213/ae157c |
| Availability: |
https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ae157c; https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:88cb33b6-373d-4748-a469-23c14ebc182d |
| Rights: |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess ; CC Attribution (CC BY) |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.C03E2B66 |
| Database: |
BASE |