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Rich text document6/4/2023 ![]() ![]() Here we report a spectroscopic thermal phase curve of GJ 1214b obtained with JWST in the mid-infrared. However, themeasured spectra are featureless, and thus inconclusive, due to the presence of high-altitude aerosols in the planet’s atmosphere. GJ 1214b is an archetype sub-Neptune that has been observed extensively using transmission spectroscopy to test this hypothesis. ![]() It is hypothesized that the group with larger radii (referred to as “sub-Neptunes”) is distinguished by having hydrogen-dominated atmospheres that are a few percent of the total mass of the planets. Population statistics show that close-in planets in this size range bifurcate into two classes based on their radii. There are no planets intermediate in size between Earth and Neptune in our Solar System, yet these objects are found around a substantial fraction of other stars. ![]() A reflective, metal-rich atmosphere for GJ 1214b from its JWST phase curve ![]()
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