Exeter Fellow awarded record James Webb Space Telescope time for largest emission survey of hot Jupiters
Exeter College Supernumerary Fellow, Dr Jake Taylor (Glasstone Fellow in the Department of Physics), has been awarded 112.7 hours of observing time on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to study the emission spectra of nine hot Jupiters. The programme represents the largest survey ever conducted with JWST focused on hot Jupiter emission spectra, and the largest allocation of JWST observing time awarded to a UK Principal Investigator for exoplanet atmosphere studies.
The project will use JWST’s advanced infrared instruments to observe a sample of hot Jupiters – gas giant exoplanets that orbit extremely close to their host stars. By analysing their emission spectra, the study will investigate the thermal structure and atmospheric composition of these planets, offering new insights into the physical processes shaping their atmospheres.
Hot Jupiters are among the most intensively studied exoplanets due to their high temperatures and large sizes, which make them well suited to atmospheric characterisation. However, most previous studies have focused on individual planets. This new programme will observe nine targets as part of a single coordinated survey, enabling direct comparisons across a wider population.
By examining how these atmospheres emit heat, the project will help to constrain models of atmospheric structure and energy transport in strongly irradiated planets. Observations of multiple systems will also allow Dr Taylor’s team to identify broader trends in atmospheric properties, helping to place individual planets within a wider comparative framework.
The scale of the programme reflects both the scientific ambition of the project and the capabilities of JWST in probing exoplanet atmospheres with unprecedented precision.
In addition to the observing time, Dr Taylor has been awarded 1.73 million core-hours on the STFC DiRAC high-performance computing facility at the University of Leicester. These resources will support the intensive computational modelling required to analyse the JWST data and interpret the observed spectra.
Together, the observational programme and computational allocation will enable a comprehensive study of hot Jupiter atmospheres, contributing to a deeper understanding of how these extreme planets form, evolve, and respond to intense stellar irradiation. The understanding of these processes will eventually help us to determine how the planets in our solar system formed.
Further details about the observing programme, including its scientific aims and collaborators, are available via the Space Telescope Science Institute.
