JWST COMPASS Program: The 3--5 mu m transmission spectrum of LTT 1445 A b
Natasha E. Batalha, Nicole Wallack, Tyler Gordon, Nicholas F. Wogan, Katherine A. Bennett, Jea Adams Redai, Mercedes López-Morales, Johanna Teske, Jeff Valenti, Munazza K. Alam, Lili Alderson, Artyom Aguichine, Natalie M. Batalha, Anna Gagnebin, Peter Gao, Annabella Meech, Sarah E. Moran, Hannah R. Wakeford, Angie Wolfgang
astro-ph.EP
Submitted: 2026-05-14
Comments: accepted AJ, 19 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The gist: The search for an atmosphere on the closest rocky M dwarf planet, LTT 1445 A b, has been the subject of intense investigation from both the ground and space.
Terminology
Abstract
The search for an atmosphere on the closest rocky M dwarf planet, LTT 1445 A b, has been the subject of intense investigation from both the ground and space. Here, we present the first JWST transmission spectrum of LTT 1445 A b using a single visit spanning 3-5 mu m using NIRSpec/G395H. We conduct two independent reductions of the data using both the Eureka! and ExoTiC-JEDI pipelines. Overall, we measure the NRS1 transit depths to a median precision of about23 ppm in 41 spectroscopic channels with uniform widths of 30 pixels (about 0.02 mu m), and the NRS2 transit depths to about36 ppm precision in 65 spectroscopic channels, also with uniform widths of 30 pixels. We rule out any statistically significant spectral features at this precision and place limits on atmospheric metallicity using a grid of chemical equilibrium models with grey opaque clouds. Using NIRSpec/G395H alone, we can place limits on the atmospheric metallicity of 350 times Solar when the opaque pressure level is greater than 0.01 bars. We also conduct a combined analysis of JWST/NIRSpec and HST/WFC3 transmission data and find our atmospheric limits can be extended 500 times Solar when considering both datasets. Future analyses both in transit and emission will uncover whether there are detectable atmospheric features.
Sources
- The 3D Cosmic Shoreline for Nurturing Planetary Atmospheres
- First JWST thermal phase curves of temperate terrestrial exoplanets reveal no thick atmosphere around TRAPPIST-1 b and c
- PICASO 4.0: Clouds and Photochemistry in Climate Models of Brown Dwarfs and Exoplanets
- JWST COMPASS: A NIRSpec G395H Transmission Spectrum of Radius Valley-Dweller TOI-260 b
- JWST COMPASS: NIRSpec/G395H Transmission Observations of the Sub-Neptune HD 15337 c
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