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American Astronomical Society, Astrophysical Journal Letters, 1(951), p. L20, 2023

DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/acd93e

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The JWST Early Release Science Program for Direct Observations of Exoplanetary Systems I: High-contrast Imaging of the Exoplanet HIP 65426 b from 2 to 16 μm

Journal article published in 2023 by Aarynn L. Carter ORCID, Sasha Hinkley ORCID, Jens Kammerer ORCID, Andrew Skemer ORCID, Beth A. Biller ORCID, Jarron M. Leisenring ORCID, Maxwell A. Millar-Blanchaer ORCID, Simon Petrus ORCID, Jordan M. Stone ORCID, Kimberly Ward-Duong ORCID, Jason J. Wang ORCID, Julien H. Girard ORCID, Dean C. Hines ORCID, Marshall D. Perrin ORCID, Laurent Pueyo and other authors.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

Abstract We present JWST Early Release Science coronagraphic observations of the super-Jupiter exoplanet, HIP 65426b, with the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) from 2 to 5 μm, and with the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) from 11 to 16 μm. At a separation of ∼0.″82 (87 − 31 + 108 au), HIP 65426b is clearly detected in all seven of our observational filters, representing the first images of an exoplanet to be obtained by JWST, and the first-ever direct detection of an exoplanet beyond 5 μm. These observations demonstrate that JWST is exceeding its nominal predicted performance by up to a factor of 10, depending on separation and subtraction method, with measured 5σ contrast limits of ∼1 × 10−5 and ∼2 × 10−4 at 1″ for NIRCam at 4.4 μm and MIRI at 11.3 μm, respectively. These contrast limits provide sensitivity to sub-Jupiter companions with masses as low as 0.3M Jup beyond separations of ∼100 au. Together with existing ground-based near-infrared data, the JWST photometry are fit well by a BT-SETTL atmospheric model from 1 to 16 μm, and they span ∼97% of HIP 65426b's luminous range. Independent of the choice of model atmosphere, we measure an empirical bolometric luminosity that is tightly constrained between log L bol / L ⊙ = −4.31 and −4.14, which in turn provides a robust mass constraint of 7.1 ± 1.2 M Jup. In totality, these observations confirm that JWST presents a powerful and exciting opportunity to characterize the population of exoplanets amenable to high-contrast imaging in greater detail.