S22B0073

KELT-9 b is the archetype of the class of ultra-hot Jupiter exoplanets. Its close proximity to the host stars lead to extreme irradiation producing a cloud-free, thermally inverted atmosphere at temperatures comparable to K-dwarf stars (approx. 4000 K). At these temperatures, molecules dissociate into atoms, including strongly absorbing metals that are routinely observed in stars. Our previous observations have discovered numerous atomic species in KELT-9 b’s atmosphere. However, we also have tentative detections of a number of heavier, more exotic metals: including strontium, barium and lanthanum. These species are interesting because they are generally difficult to measure in the host stars (especially hot A-type stars), and also because they have different primordial origins than the lighter transition metals (Fe, Ti, etc). We propose to carry out a spectroscopic follow-up at near-UV wavelengths with HDS to unambiguously prove the existence of these species in an exoplanet atmosphere for the first time. As these species are interesting from the point of view of their nucleosynthesis, we envision that these observations will create an interface between exoplanet spectroscopy and galactic chemical evolution.

This document was translated from L^AT_EX by H^EV^EA.