Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers measured the composition of a mini-Neptune inside the orbit of a hot Jupiter. They say this highly unusual planetary system probably formed out beyond its star’s “frostline,” in the colder region of the system’s early disk of protoplanetary material.

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MIT astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope to measure the atmospheric composition of a mini-Neptune orbiting inside a hot Jupiter's orbit in the TOI-1130 system, 190 light years away. The mini-Neptune's atmosphere is rich in water vapor, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and methane — heavy molecules that could only have accumulated if the planet formed beyond its star's frost line. This is the first atmospheric measurement of a planet inside a hot Jupiter's orbit, and the findings suggest both planets formed in the outer, colder region of the protoplanetary disk before gradually migrating inward together, keeping their atmospheres intact.

Astronomers pin down the origins of a planetary odd couple