Erlangen 2026 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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EP: Fachverband Extraterrestrische Physik
EP 10: Exoplanets and Astrobiology
EP 10.3: Vortrag
Freitag, 20. März 2026, 09:45–10:00, KH 01.019
Does atmospheric composition actually trace planet formation? Results from observing aligned vs misaligned hot Jupiters as a testbed — •Eva-Maria Ahrer1, James Kirk2, and BOWIE-ALIGN collaboration3 — 1Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg, Germany — 2Imperial College London, London, UK — 3Bristol, Oxford, Warwick, Imperial, Exeter +
I will present the JWST program 'BOWIE-ALIGN', dedicated to test our understanding of planet formation with measurements of the composition of exoplanetary atmospheres, specifically hot Jupiters. It is unclear what variations in atmospheric chemistry can be attributed to different planet formation histories, made even more difficult by uncertainties in planetary evolution.
In our study, we compare the composition of a sample of seven hot Jupiters, where half their orbits are aligned and the other half misaligned relative to their host stars* spin axes. It is believed that aligned hot Jupiters around F stars are the outcome of disc migration, while misaligned ones arise from high-eccentricity migration. With this program we investigate whether these two subsets of exoplanets that are expected to have had very different formation pathways show any significant differences in their atmospheric composition.
I will summarise the observations of these seven hot Jupiters with JWST NIRSpec/G395H, and the outcome of this program. Specifically I will address if atmospheric composition using JWST can be used to make inferences about formation.
Keywords: Exoplanet Atmospheres; JWST observations