How drifting and evaporating pebbles shape giant planets

III. The formation of WASP-77A b and τ Boötis b

¹ Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
e-mail: bitsch@mpia-hd.mpg.de
² Niels Bohr Institutet, Københavns Universitet, Blegdamsvej 17, 2100 København, Denmark
³ Institute of Astronomy, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, 3001 Leuven, Belgium

Received: 17 February 2022
Accepted: 13 July 2022

Abstract

Atmospheric abundances of exoplanets are thought to constrain the planet formation pathway because different species evaporate at different temperatures and therefor radii in the protoplanetary disk, leaving distinct signatures inside the accreted planetary atmosphere. In particular the planetary C/O ratio is thought to constrain the planet formation pathway because of the condensation sequence of H₂O, CO₂, CH₄, and CO, resulting in an increase in the gas phase C/O ratio with increasing distance to the host star. Here we use a disk evolution model including pebble growth, drift, and evaporation coupled with a planet formation model that includes pebble and gas accretion as well as planet migration to compute the atmospheric compositions of giant planets. We compare our results to the recent observational constraints of the hot Jupiters WASP-77A b and τ Boötis b. WASP-77A b’s atmosphere features subsolar C/H, O/H, and H₂O/H with slightly super-solar C/O, while τ Boötis b’s atmosphere features super-solar C/H, O/H, and C/O with subsolar H₂O/H. Our simulations qualitatively reproduce these measurements and show that giants similar to WASP-77A b should start to form beyond the CO₂ evaporation front, while giants similar to τ Boötis b should originate from beyond the water ice line. Our model allows for the formation of subsolar and super-solar atmospheric compositions within the same framework. On the other hand, simulations without pebble evaporation, as used in classical models, cannot reproduce the super-solar C/H and O/H ratios of τ Boötis b’s atmosphere without the additional accretion of solids. Furthermore, we identify the a viscosity parameter of the disk as a key ingredient regarding planetary composition because the viscosity drives the inward motion of volatile enriched vapor, which is responsible for the accretion of gaseous carbon and oxygen. Depending on the planet’s migration history through the disk across different evaporation fronts, order-of-magnitude differences in atmospheric carbon and oxygen abundances should be expected. Our simulations additionally predict super-solar N/H for τ Boötis b and solar N/H for WASP-77A b. We thus conclude that pebble evaporation is a key ingredient to explain the variety of exoplanet atmospheres because it can explain both subsolar and super-solar atmospheric abundances.