JWST-TST High Contrast: First Direct Spectroscopy of GJ 504 b reveals Clouds and Possible Metal Enrichment

Abstract

Characterizing the coldest directly imaged companions through direct spectroscopy has only recently become possible with the James Webb Space Telescope. We present moderate-resolution (R $\sim$ 2,700) spectroscopic observations of the directly imaged planetary-mass companion (PMC), GJ 504 b, using the $JWST$/NIRSpec. As the coldest imaged PMC of the pre-JWST era GJ 504 b is too faint for ground-based spectroscopy, with only photometric observations possible. Leveraging advanced post-processing techniques with a forward modeling framework, we detect the companion at high signal-to-noise (S/N$>$300). We also present the first successful PSF subtraction with angular differential imaging (ADI) in the NIRSpec point cloud, detecting GJ 504 b at S/N$>10$ and reaching contrast limits $<10^{-4}$. The extracted 2.9--5.3 $μm$ spectra show strong signatures of several molecular species, including H$_2$O, $^{12}$C$^{16}$O, CH$_4$, CO$_2$, NH$_3$, H$_2$S, $^{13}$C$^{16}$O, and $^{12}$C$^{18}$O. Atmospheric modeling of the spectra using \texttt{petitRADTRANS}, yields an effective temperature = 564$\pm$4 K, surface gravity $\log{g}$ = 4.87$^{+0.13}_{-0.12}$, metallicity [M/H] = 0.67$^{+0.13}_{-0.12}$, C/O ratio = 0.64$^{+0.02}_{-0.02}$, interstellar $^{12}$C/$^{13}$C and $^{16}$O/$^{18}$O isotopologue ratios, and strong evidence of disequilibrium chemistry and salt clouds. The retrieved parameters indicate a mass 25.2$^{+8.4}_{-6.0}$ $M_\mathrm{Jup}$, which is in agreement with the mass range (19--27 $M_\mathrm{Jup}$) obtained from ATMO evolutionary models, implying an age of 2.5--4.0 Gyr. Lastly, we compare the abundances of GJ 504 b to its primary, obtaining a stellar abundance of sulfur (S), super-stellar carbon (C), and possibly, oxygen (O). The observed metal enrichment tentatively supports planet-like formation, but does not entirely exclude stellar abundances for GJ 504 b.