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Silicate clouds and a circumplanetary disk in the YSES-1 exoplanet system

Author

Listed:
  • K. K. W. Hoch

    (Space Telescope Science Institute)

  • M. Rowland

    (The University of Texas at Austin)

  • S. Petrus

    (NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center
    Diego Portales University
    Millennium Nucleus on Young Exoplanets and their Moons (YEMS))

  • E. Nasedkin

    (Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie
    The University of Dublin)

  • C. Ingebretsen

    (Johns Hopkins University)

  • J. Kammerer

    (European Southern Observatory)

  • M. Perrin

    (Space Telescope Science Institute)

  • V. D’Orazi

    (INAF - Padova Astronomical Observatory
    The University of Texas at Austin)

  • W. O. Balmer

    (Johns Hopkins University)

  • T. Barman

    (University of Arizona)

  • M. Bonnefoy

    (University of Grenoble Alpes)

  • G. Chauvin

    (Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie)

  • C. Chen

    (Space Telescope Science Institute)

  • R. J. De Rosa

    (Alonso de Córdova)

  • J. Girard

    (Space Telescope Science Institute)

  • E. Gonzales

    (San Francisco State University)

  • M. Kenworthy

    (Leiden University)

  • Q. M. Konopacky

    (UC San Diego)

  • B. Macintosh

    (University of California Observatories
    University of California Santa Cruz)

  • S. E. Moran

    (NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center
    University of Arizona)

  • C. V. Morley

    (The University of Texas at Austin)

  • P. Palma-Bifani

    (Observatoire de la Cote d’Azur
    LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris Sciences et Lettres, CNRS, Sorbonne University, Université de Paris)

  • L. Pueyo

    (Space Telescope Science Institute)

  • B. Ren

    (Observatoire de la Cote d’Azur)

  • E. Rickman

    (European Space Agency, Space Telescope Science Institute)

  • J.-B. Ruffio

    (UC San Diego)

  • C. A. Theissen

    (UC San Diego)

  • K. Ward-Duong

    (Smith College)

  • Y. Zhang

    (California Institute of Technology)

Abstract

Young exoplanets provide an important link between understanding planet formation and atmospheric evolution1. Direct imaging spectroscopy allows us to infer the properties of young, wide-orbit, giant planets with high signal-to-noise ratio. This allows us to compare this young population with exoplanets characterized by transmission spectroscopy, which has indirectly revealed the presence of clouds2–4, photochemistry5 and a diversity of atmospheric compositions6,7. Direct detections have also been made for brown dwarfs8,9, but direct studies of young giant planets in the mid-infrared were not possible before James Webb Space Telescope10. With two exoplanets around a solar-type star, the YSES-1 system is an ideal laboratory for studying this early phase of exoplanet evolution. Here we report the direct observations of silicate clouds in the atmosphere of the exoplanet YSES-1 c through its 9–11 µm absorption feature, and the first circumplanetary disk silicate emission around its sibling planet, YSES-1 b. The clouds of YSES-1 c are composed of either amorphous iron-enriched pyroxene or a combination of amorphous MgSiO3 and Mg2SiO4, with particle sizes of ≤0.1 μm at 1 millibar pressure. We attribute the emission from the disk around YSES-1 b to be from submicron olivine dust grains, which may have formed through collisions of planet-forming bodies in the disk.

Suggested Citation

  • K. K. W. Hoch & M. Rowland & S. Petrus & E. Nasedkin & C. Ingebretsen & J. Kammerer & M. Perrin & V. D’Orazi & W. O. Balmer & T. Barman & M. Bonnefoy & G. Chauvin & C. Chen & R. J. De Rosa & J. Girard, 2025. "Silicate clouds and a circumplanetary disk in the YSES-1 exoplanet system," Nature, Nature, vol. 643(8073), pages 938-942, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:643:y:2025:i:8073:d:10.1038_s41586-025-09174-w
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09174-w
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