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December 17, 2025
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Article

Atmospheric composition and circulation of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-121b with joint NIRPS, HARPS and CRIRES plus transit spectroscopy

Publicated to: ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS. 703 A251- - 2025-11-26 703(), DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/202556257

Authors:

Vaulato, V; Hobson, MJ; Allart, R; Pelletier, S; Wardenier, JP; Chakraborty, H; Ehrenreich, D; Nari, N; Steiner, M; Dumusque, X; Hoeijmakers, HJ; Artigau, É; Baron, F; Barros, SCC; Benneke, B; Bonfils, X; Bouchy, F; Bryan, M; Martins, BLC; Cloutier, R; Cook, NJ; Cowan, NB; De Medeiros, JR; Delfosse, X; Delgado-Mena, E; Doyon, R; Hernández, JIG; Lafrenière, D; Leao, ID; Lovis, C; Malo, L; Melo, C; Mignon, L; Mordasini, C; Pepe, F; Rebolo, R; Rowe, J; Santos, NC; Ségransan, D; Mascareño, AS; Udry, S; Valencia, D; Wade, G; Aguiar, JLA; Al Moulla, K; Akinsanmi, B; Borsato, NW; Cadieux, C; Carteret, Y; Silva, ARC; Cristo, EAS; Forveille, T; Frensch, YGC; Gromek, N; Lendl, M; Prinoth, B; Psaridi, A; Stefanov, AK; Thorsbro, B; Weisserman, D
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Affiliations

Bishops Univ, Dept Phys & Astron, 2600 Coll St, Sherbrooke, PQ J1M 1Z7, Canada - Author
CAEND UPM Consejo Super Invest Cient, Madrid 28006, Spain - Author
Campus UAB, Consejo Super Invest Cient CSIC, Inst Space Sci ICE, Carrer de Can Magrans s-n, Cerdanyola Del Valles 08193, Barcelona, Spain - Author
CSIC INTA, Ctr Astrobiol CAB, Camino Bajo Castillo S-N, E-28692 Villanueva De La Canada, Madrid, Spain - Author
European Southern Observ ESO Headquarters, D-85748 Garching, Germany - Author
European Southern Observ ESO, Alonso de Cordova 3107, Santiago, Chile - Author
Inst Astrofis Canarias IAC, Calle Via Lactea S-N, San Cristobal la Laguna 38205, Tenerife, Spain - Author
Inst Estudis Espacials Catalunya IEEC, Castelldefels 08860, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Light Bridges SL, Observ Teide, Carretera Observ S-N Guimar, Tenerife 38500, Canarias, Spain - Author
Lund Univ, Dept Phys, Div Astrophys, Box 118, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden - Author
Lund Univ, Dept Phys, Div Astrophys, Lund Observ, Box 118, S-22100 Lund, Sweden - Author
Macquarie Univ, Sch Math & Phys Sci, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia - Author
McGill Univ, Dept Earth & Planetary Sci, 3450 Rue Univ, Montreal, PQ H3A 0E8, Canada - Author
McGill Univ, Dept Phys, Rue Univ 3600, Montreal, PQ H3A 2T8, Canada - Author
McMaster Univ, Dept Phys & Astron, 1280 Main St W, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8, Canada - Author
Observ Astron Mt Megantic, Quebec City, PQ, Canada - Author
Queens Univ, Dept Phys Engn Phys & Astron, 99 Univ Ave, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada - Author
Royal Mil Coll Canada, Phys & Space Sci Dept, Kingston, ON K7K 7B4, Canada - Author
Univ Bern, Phys Inst, Space Res & Planetary Sci, Sidlerstr 5, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland - Author
Univ Calif Los Angeles, Dept Earth Planetary & Space Sci, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA - Author
Univ Cote Azur, Observ Cote Azur, CNRS, Lab Lagrange, Nice, France - Author
Univ Fed Rio Grande do Norte, Dept Fis Teor & Expt, Campus Univ,CP 1641, BR-59072970 Natal, RN, Brazil - Author
Univ Geneva, Dept Astron, Observ Geneve, Chemin Pegasi 51, CH-1290 Versoix, Switzerland - Author
Univ Geneva, Fac Sci, Ctr Vie Univers, Quai Ernest Ansermet 30, CH-1205 Geneva, Switzerland - Author
Univ Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, F-38000 Grenoble, France - Author
Univ Laguna ULL, Dept Astrofis, San Cristobal la Laguna 38206, Tenerife, Spain - Author
Univ Montreal, Inst Trottier Rech Exoplanetes, Dept Phys, Montreal, PQ, Canada - Author
Univ Porto, Fac Ciencias, Dept Fis & Astron, Rua Campo Alegre, P-4169007 Porto, Portugal - Author
Univ Porto, Inst Astrofis & Ciencias Espaco, CAUP, Rua Estrelas, P-4150762 Porto, Portugal - Author
Univ Toronto, Dept Phys, Toronto, ON M5S 3H4, Canada - Author
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Abstract

Ultra-hot gas giants such as WASP-121b provide unique laboratories for exploring atmospheric chemistry and dynamics under extreme irradiation conditions. Uncovering their chemical composition and atmospheric circulation is critical for tracing planet formation pathways. Here, we present a comprehensive atmospheric characterisation of WASP-121b using high-resolution transit spectroscopy across the optical to infrared with HARPS, NIRPS, and CRIRES+ spanning nine transit events. These observations are complemented with five TESS photometric sectors, two EulerCam light curves simultaneous to the HARPS and NIRPS transits, and an extensive radial velocity dataset in order to refine WASP-121b's orbital parameters. A cross-correlation analysis detected iron (Fe), carbon monoxide (CO) and vanadium (V) absorption signals with SNR of 5.8, 5.0, and 4.7, respectively. Our retrieval analysis constrains the water (H2O) abundance to -6.52(-0.68)(+0.49) dex, although its absorption signal is effectively muted by the hydride (H-) continuum. We constrained the relative abundances of the volatile and refractory elements - which represents a crucial diagnostic of atmospheric chemistry, evolution, and planet formation pathways. The retrieved abundance ratios are broadly consistent with expected values of a solar composition atmosphere in chemical equilibrium, likely indicating minimal disequilibrium chemistry alterations at the probed pressures (similar to 10(-4)-10(-3) bar). We update the orbital parameters of WASP-121b with its largest radial velocity dataset to date. By comparing orbital velocities derived from both the radial velocity analysis and the atmospheric retrieval, we determined a non-zero velocity offset caused by atmospheric circulation, Delta K-p = -15 +/- 3 km s(-1) (assuming M-star = 1.38 +/- 0.02 M-circle dot), consistent with predictions from either drag-free or weak-drag 3D global circulation models, while we caution the non-negligible dependence on the assumed stellar mass. These results place new constraints on the thermal structure, dynamics, and chemical inventory of WASP-121b, highlighting the power of multi-wavelength high-resolution spectroscopy to probe exoplanetary atmospheres.
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Keywords

Absorption signaturesComputer-programCross-correlation signalError-correctionExoplanet atmospheresGiant planetInstrumentation: spectrographsLimb-darkening coefficientsMethods: observationalOpacity calculatorPlanets and satellites: atmospheresPlanets and satellites: compositionPlanets and satellites: gaseous planetsTechniques: spectroscopicThermal-dissociationTransmission spectrum

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2025, it was in position 15/84, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Astronomy & Astrophysics.

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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-09:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 8.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 9 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

    It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

    • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
    • Additionally, the work has been submitted to a journal classified as Diamond in relation to this type of editorial policy.
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    Leadership analysis of institutional authors

    This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Australia; Brazil; Canada; Chile; France; Germany; Portugal; Sweden; Switzerland; United States of America.

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    Awards linked to the item

    This work has been carried out within the framework of the NCCR PlanetS supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation under grants 51NF40_182901 and 51NF40_205606. RA acknowledges the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) support under the Post-Doc Mobility grant P500PT_222212 and the support of the Institut Trottier de Recherche sur les Exoplanetes (IREx). RA, JPW, EA, FBa, BB, NJC, RD, LMa & CC acknowledge the financial support of the FRQ-NT through the Centre de recherche en astrophysique du Quebec as well as the support from the Trottier Family Foundation and the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets. ML, HC & BA acknowledge support of the Swiss National Science Foundation under grant number PCEFP2_194576. DE and MS acknowledge support from the Swiss National Science Foundation for project 200021_200726. VV, SP, DE, &MS acknowledge the financial support of the SNSF. NN, JIGH, RR, ASM & AKS acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU) projects PID2020-117493GB-I00 and PID2023-149982NB-I00. NN acknowledges financial support by Light Bridges S.L, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. NN acknowledges funding from Light Bridges for the Doctoral Thesis "Habitable Earth-like planets with ESPRESSO and NIRPS", in cooperation with the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, and the use of Indefeasible Computer Rights (ICR) being commissioned at the ASTRO POC project in the Island of Tenerife, Canary Islands (Spain). The ICR-ASTRONOMY used for his research was provided by Light Bridges in cooperation with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). XDu acknowledges the support from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement SCORE No. 851555) and from the Swiss National Science Foundation under the grant SPECTRE (No 200021_215200). This work was supported by grants from eSSENCE (grant number eSSENCE@LU 9:3), the Swedish National Research Council (project number 2023 05307), The Crafoord foundation and the Royal Physiographic Society of Lund, through The Fund of the Walter Gyllenberg Foundation. EA, FBa, RD & LMa acknowledges support from Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) program, the Universite de Montreal and Universite Laval, the Canada Economic Development (CED) program and the Ministere of Economy, Innovation and Energy (MEIE). SCB, ED-M, NCS & ARCS acknowledge the support from FCT - Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia through national funds by these grants: UIDB/04434/2020, UIDP/04434/2020. SCB acknowledges the support from Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) in the form of a work contract through the Scientific Employment Incentive program with reference 2023.06687.CEECIND and DOI 10.54499/2023.06687.CEECIND/CP2839/CT0002. XB, XDe and TF acknowledge funding from the French ANR under contract number ANR24-CE493397 (ORVET), and the French National Research Agency in the framework of the Investissements d'Avenir program (ANR-15-IDEX-02), through the funding of the "Origin of Life" project of the Grenoble-Alpes University. The Board of Observational and Instrumental Astronomy (NAOS) at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte's research activities are supported by continuous grants from the Brazilian funding agency CNPq. This study was partially funded by the Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior - Brasil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001 and the CAPES-Print program. BLCM acknowledge CAPES postdoctoral fellowships. BLCM acknowledges CNPq research fellowships (Grant No. 305804/2022-7). NBC acknowledges support from an NSERC Discovery Grant, a Canada Research Chair, and an Arthur B. McDonald Fellowship, and thanks the Trottier Space Institute for its financial support and dynamic intellectual environment. JRM acknowledges CNPq research fellowships (Grant No. 308928/2019-9). ED-M further acknowledges the support from FCT through Stimulus FCT contract 2021.01294.CEECIND. ED-M acknowledges the support by the Ramon y Cajal contract RyC2022-035854-I funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ESF+. ICL acknowledges CNPq research fellowships (Grant No. 313103/2022-4). CMo acknowledges the funding from the Swiss National Science Foundation under grant 200021_204847 "PlanetsInTime". Co-funded by the European Union (ERC, FIERCE, 101052347). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Council. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them. GAW is supported by a Discovery Grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada.
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