Pith. sign in

REVIEW 4 cited by

A Comprehensive Reanalysis of K2-18 b's JWST NIRISS+NIRSpec Transmission Spectrum

Not yet reviewed by Pith; the record is open.

This paper has not been read by Pith yet. Machine review is queued; the pith claim, tier, and objections will appear here once it completes.

SPECIMEN: schema-true, not a live event

T0 review · schema-true

One-sentence machine reading of the paper's core claim.

pith:XXXXXXXX · record.json · timestamp

arxiv 2501.18477 v2 pith:XQ6V7IYT submitted 2025-01-30 astro-ph.EP

A Comprehensive Reanalysis of K2-18 b's JWST NIRISS+NIRSpec Transmission Spectrum

classification astro-ph.EP
keywords datak2-18atmosphericevidencejwstliquidnirisstransmission
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal T4 reserved
0 comments
read the original abstract

Sub-Neptunes are the most common type of planet in our galaxy. Interior structure models suggest that the coldest sub-Neptunes could host liquid water oceans underneath their hydrogen envelopes -- sometimes called ``hycean'' planets. JWST transmission spectra of the $\sim$ 250 K sub-Neptune K2-18 b were recently used to report detections of CH$_4$ and CO$_2$, alongside weaker evidence of (CH$_3$)$_2$S (dimethyl sulfide, or DMS). Atmospheric CO$_2$ was interpreted as evidence for a liquid water ocean, while DMS was highlighted as a potential biomarker. However, these notable claims were derived using a single data reduction and retrieval modeling framework, which did not allow for standard robustness tests. Here we present a comprehensive reanalysis of K2-18 b's JWST NIRISS SOSS and NIRSpec G395H transmission spectra, including the first analysis of the second-order NIRISS SOSS data. We incorporate multiple well-tested data reduction pipelines and retrieval codes, spanning 60 different data treatments and over 250 atmospheric retrievals. We confirm the detection of CH$_4$ ($\approx 4\sigma$), with a volume mixing ratio range $-2.14 \leq \log_{10} \mathrm{CH_4} \leq -0.53$, but we find no statistically significant or reliable evidence for CO$_2$ or DMS. Finally, we assess the retrieved atmospheric composition using photochemical-climate and interior models, demonstrating that our revised composition of K2-18\,b can be explained by an oxygen-poor mini-Neptune without requiring a liquid water surface or life.

discussion (0)

Sign in with ORCID, Apple, or X to comment. Anyone can read and Pith papers without signing in.

Forward citations

Cited by 4 Pith papers

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

  1. Mitigating Charge Migration in JWST NIRISS Reveals That KELT-7 b is a Metal-enriched Ultra-hot Jupiter Orbiting a Young Metal-rich Star

    astro-ph.EP 2026-07 conditional novelty 7.0

    Correcting NIRISS charge migration reveals KELT-7 b as a metal-enriched (~92x solar) ultra-hot Jupiter with H2O, CO2 and TiO but no H- or clouds, orbiting a young metal-rich star.

  2. Hydrolyzed Hazes on Water-rich Exoplanets: Optical Constants and Detectability

    astro-ph.EP 2026-04 conditional novelty 7.0

    Hydrolyzed haze analogs from water-rich exoplanet conditions show higher absorptivity and a high imaginary refractive index that flattens spectral features in atmospheric models.

  3. Cloudy mornings and clear evenings on a gas giant exoplanet

    astro-ph.EP 2025-05 unverdicted novelty 7.0

    Transmission spectrum of WASP-94A b reveals morning limb cooler and cloudy versus evening limb hotter with H2O features, interpreted as cloud droplets forming on morning side and evaporating on evening side.

  4. Knobs and dials of retrieving JWST transmission spectra. II. Impacts of pipeline-level differences on retrieval posteriors

    astro-ph.EP 2025-11 conditional novelty 5.0

    Retrieval posteriors for WASP-39 b differ between transmission spectra reduced from identical JWST raw data, producing stable Gaussian distributions for well-constrained species like H2O and CO2 but unstable heavy-tai...