Oxygen And Nitrogen Isotopologues On Cold COCONUTS-2b Observed With MIRI/MRS

Linking the composition of gas giant planets to their formation paths has long been a goal in exoplanet science. Especially, cold gas giants with temperatures below ∼500K have been out of reach for detailed atmospheric characterization.

With JWST, however, we can reach high signal-to-noise (S/N) spectra for such cool worlds and can can measure not only their main trace gas abundances, but even their isotopic content unlocking new possibilities in linking them to their formation paths.

In this study, we present the spectrum of one of the coldest planetary-mass companions COCONUTS-2b (T_eff≈480K, separation of ∼6400 au from its M dwarf host star) obtained with the Mid-InfraRed Instrument Medium Resolution Spectrometer (MIRI/MRS).

Combining the MIRI and archival Gemini/FLAMINGOS-2 data sets, we aim to characterize the chemical composition and physical structure of its frigid atmosphere, setting the stage to uncover insights on the formation of COCONUTS-2b.

For the first time on a MIRI/MRS data set, we use the full spectral resolution of MIRI/MRS and perform atmospheric retrievals to unlock the search for faint absorption features by rare molecules and isotopologues. The latter are identified using a leave-one-out analysis and Bayes factor comparison.

We robustly detect three isotopologues, namely ¹⁵NH₃, H₂¹⁸O and H₂¹⁷O in the atmosphere of COCONUTS-2b. We find the first clear evidence of oxygen isotopes in water in a cold companion. This data set demonstrates the capability of MIRI/MRS to characterize such cold planetary-mass companion’s atmospheres with respect to their compositional and isotopic content.

In the future, the constrained elemental and isotope ratios provide a unique avenue in comparing with the host star’s abundances and eventually in tracing formation scenarios.

H. Kühnle, E. C. Matthews, P. Mollière, P. Patapis, Z. Zhang, E. Nasedkin, D. Gasman, N. Whiteford, H. S. Wang, M. Ravet, G. Chauvin, M. Bonnefoy, D. Barrado, A. M. Glauser, S. P. Quanz

Comments: Accepted for publication in A&A
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)
Cite as: arXiv:2604.26850 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:2604.26850v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2604.26850
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Submission history
From: Helena Kuehnle
[v1] Wed, 29 Apr 2026 16:14:14 UTC (3,099 KB)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.26850

Astrobiology, Astronomy, exoplanet,