Kavli Affiliate: Roger W. Romani
| First 5 Authors: Michael Zhang, Michael Zhang, , ,
| Summary:
A handful of enigmatic Jupiter-mass objects have been discovered orbiting
pulsars. One such object, PSR J2322-2650b, uniquely resembles a hot Jupiter
exoplanet due to its minimum density of 1.8 g/cm^3 and its ~1900 K equilibrium
temperature. We use JWST to observe its emission spectrum across an entire
orbit. In stark contrast to every known exoplanet orbiting a main-sequence
star, we find an atmosphere rich in molecular carbon (C3, C2) with strong
westward winds. Our observations open up a new exoplanetary chemical regime
(ultra-high C/O and C/N ratios of >100 and >10,000 respectively) and dynamical
regime (ultra-fast rotation with external irradiation) to observational study.
The extreme carbon enrichment poses a severe challenge to the current
understanding of "black widow" companions, which were expected to consist of a
wider range of elements due to their origins as stripped stellar cores.
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