1. The 13 CO-rich atmosphere of a young accreting super-Jupiter.
- Author
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Zhang Y, Snellen IAG, Bohn AJ, Mollière P, Ginski C, Hoeijmakers HJ, Kenworthy MA, Mamajek EE, Meshkat T, Reggiani M, and Snik F
- Abstract
Isotope abundance ratios have an important role in astronomy and planetary sciences, providing insights into the origin and evolution of the Solar System, interstellar chemistry and stellar nucleosynthesis
1,2 . In contrast to deuterium/hydrogen ratios, carbon isotope ratios are found to be roughly constant (around 89) in the Solar System1,3 , but do vary on galactic scales with a12 C/13 C isotopologue ratio of around 68 in the current local interstellar medium4-6 . In molecular clouds and protoplanetary disks,12 CO/13 CO ratios can be altered by ice and gas partitioning7 , low-temperature isotopic ion-exchange reactions8 and isotope-selective photodissociation9 . Here we report observations of13 CO in the atmosphere of the young, accreting super-Jupiter TYC 8998-760-1 b, at a statistical significance of more than six sigma. Marginalizing over the planet's atmospheric temperature structure, chemical composition and spectral calibration uncertainties suggests a12 CO/13 CO ratio of [Formula: see text](90% confidence), a substantial enrichment in13 C with respect to the terrestrial standard and the local interstellar value. As the current location of TYC 8998-760-1 b at greater than or equal to 160 astronomical units is far beyond the CO snowline, we postulate that it accreted a substantial fraction of its carbon from ices enriched in13 C through fractionation., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)- Published
- 2021
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