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The transmission spectrum of the potentially rocky planet L 98-59 c

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arxiv 2301.10866 v2 pith:UN7AYWGX submitted 2023-01-25 astro-ph.EP

classification astro-ph.EP
keywords spectrumplanetadditionalcollecteddatastarstellartransmission
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal
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We present observations of the 1.35+/-0.07 Earth-radius planet L 98-59 c, collected using Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope. L 98-59 is a nearby (10.6 pc), bright (H=7.4 mag), M3V star that harbors three small, transiting planets. As one of the closest known transiting multi-planet systems, L 98-59 offers one of the best opportunities to probe and compare the atmospheres of rocky planets that formed in the same stellar environment. We measured the transmission spectrum of L 98-59 c and the extracted spectrum showed marginal evidence (2.1{\sigma}) for wavelength-dependent transit depth variations that could indicate the presence of an atmosphere. We forward-modeled possible atmospheric compositions of the planet based on the transmission spectrum. Although L 98-59 was previously thought to be a fairly quiet star, we have seen evidence for stellar activity, and therefore we assessed a scenario where the source of the signal originates with inhomogeneities on stellar surface. We also see a correlation between transits of L 98-59 c and L 98-59 b collected 12.5 hours apart, which is suggestive (but at <2{\sigma} confidence) of a contaminating component from the star impacting the exoplanet spectrum. While intriguing, our results are inconclusive and additional data is needed to verify any atmospheric signal. Fortunately, additional data has been collected from both HST and JWST. Should this result be confirmed with additional data, L 98-59 c would be the first planet smaller than two Earth-radii with a detected atmosphere.

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Cited by 4 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score. Full citation record

  1. A Semi-Empirical Estimate of Solar EUV Evolution from 10 Myr to 10 Gyr

    astro-ph.SR 2025-07 conditional novelty 7.0 of 10

    Solar-type stars emit a nearly constant EUV flux for their first ~70 million years, then decay as a power law, so the young Sun flooded its planets with about 100 times today's EUV.

  2. Quantifying the Impact of Starspot-Crossing Events on Retrieved Parameters from Transit Lightcurves

    astro-ph.EP 2025-11 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    Fitting starspot-crossing events recovers transit depths better than masking in high-SNR, high-contamination cases; small/faint spots can overcorrect, and SCEs inflate depth uncertainties at JWST precision.

  3. Detailed Architecture of the L 98-59 System and Confirmation of a Fifth Planet in the Habitable Zone

    astro-ph.EP 2025-07 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    The paper confirms a non-transiting habitable-zone super-Earth (L 98-59 f) and refines masses, radii, and near-circular eccentricities for all five planets in the L 98-59 system.

  4. Highlights from Exoplanet Observations by the James Webb Space Telescope

    astro-ph.EP 2025-05 unverdicted novelty 3.0 of 10

    A review chapter of JWST exoplanet highlights with a compiled target database and reproducible figures.

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