Detectable Molecular Features above Hydrocarbon Haze via Transmission Spectroscopy with JWST: Case Studies of GJ 1214b-, GJ 436b-, HD 97658b-, and Kepler-51b-like Planets

Abstract

Some of the exoplanets observed thus far show featureless or flat transmission spectra, possibly indicating the existence of clouds and/or haze in their atmospheres. Thanks to its large aperture size and broad wavelength coverage, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is expected to enable a detailed investigation of exoplanet atmospheres, which could provide important constraints on the atmospheric composition obscured by clouds/haze. Here, we use four warm (≾1000 K) planets suitable for atmospheric characterization via transmission spectroscopy, GJ 1214b, GJ 436b, HD 97658b, and Kepler-51b, as examples to explore molecular absorption features detectable by JWST even in the existence of hydrocarbon haze in the atmospheres. We simulate photochemistry, the growth of hydrocarbon haze particles, and transmission spectra for the atmospheres of these four planets. We find that among the planetary parameters considered, super-Earths with hazy, relatively hydrogen-rich atmospheres are mostly expected to produce detectable molecular absorption features such as a quite prominent CH_4 feature at 3.3 μm, even for the extreme case of the most efficient production of photochemical haze. For a planet that has extremely low gravity, such as Kepler-51b, haze particles grow significantly large in the upper atmosphere due to the small sedimentation velocity, resulting in the featureless or flat transmission spectrum in a wide wavelength range. This investigation shows that, in most cases, the transmission spectra with muted features measured by Hubble Space Telescope do not preclude strong features at the longer wavelengths accessible by JWST.

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