A Spatial Map of the Atmospheric Limb of a Hot Jupiter

Lili Alderson; Hannah R. Wakeford; David Grant; Nikole K. Lewis; Avinash Verma; Jayesh Goyal; Mark Hammond; Daniel Valentine; Natalie H. Allen; Ana Glidden; Amélie Gressier; Jingcheng Huang; Maura Lally; Dana R. Louie; Jacob Lustig-Yaeger; Cathal Maguire; Elijah Mullens; Kristen S. Sotzen; Jeff A. Valenti; Roeland P. van der Marel; Tiffany Kataria

doi:10.1038/s41550-026-02986-4

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arXiv · 2610.18806

A Spatial Map of the Atmospheric Limb of a Hot Jupiter

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Abstract

Planets are inherently three-dimensional objects shaped by their thermal structure and dynamics. Observations of transiting exoplanets have begun to uncover this three-dimensional nature, with JWST measuring their dayside atmosphere structure with eclipse mapping, and exploring spectroscopic asymmetries in the limbs of planets during transit. We apply the novel mapping method of transmission strings to the hot Jupiter WASP-17b. With this method, we are not only able to extract hemispheric limb asymmetries from east-to-west, but can map equator-to-pole variations around the transmitting atmosphere as a function of angle, spanning 0.6-12$μ$m. We find a clear transition in the thermal scale height around the limb of the atmosphere, with a $\sim$650K temperature difference between the morning (T=858$^{+434}_{-233}$K) and evening (T=1522$^{+116}_{-114}$K). These results are consistent with both nightside emission and dayside eclipse mapping measurements, and represent a fully comprehensive set of observations for a transiting exoplanet. We are also able to constrain the abundances of H$_2$O and CO$_2$ to constant values around the limb, providing observational constraints to results from global circulation models. The transmission string technique combined with the outstanding observability of WASP-17b pushes the study of exoplanet atmospheres further into a three-dimensional understanding of hot Jupiter dynamics and chemistry

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Lili Alderson, Hannah R. Wakeford, David Grant, Nikole K. Lewis, Avinash Verma, Jayesh Goyal, Mark Hammond, Daniel Valentine, Natalie H. Allen, Ana Glidden, Amélie Gressier, Jingcheng Huang, Maura Lally, Dana R. Louie, Jacob Lustig-Yaeger, Cathal Maguire, Elijah Mullens, Kristen S. Sotzen, Jeff A. Valenti, Roeland P. van der Marel, Tiffany Kataria. 2026-10-13. A Spatial Map of the Atmospheric Limb of a Hot Jupiter. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-026-02986-4

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