Evidence for TiO in the Atmosphere of the Hot Jupiter HAT-P-65 b

Abstract

We present the low-resolution transmission spectra of the puffy hot Jupiter HAT-P-65b (0.53 M Jup , 1.89 R Jup , T eq = 1930 K), based on two transits observed using the OSIRIS spectrograph on the 10.4 m Gran Telescopio CANARIAS. The transmission spectra of the two nights are consistent, covering the wavelength range 517–938 nm and consisting of mostly 5 nm spectral bins. We perform equilibrium-chemistry spectral retrieval analyses on the jointly fitted transmission spectrum and obtain an equilibrium temperature of K and a cloud coverage of %, revealing a relatively clear planetary atmosphere. Based on free-chemistry retrieval, we report strong evidence for titanium oxide (TiO). Additional individual analyses in each night reveal weak-to-moderate evidence for TiO in both nights, but moderate evidence for Na or VO only in one of the nights. Future high-resolution Doppler spectroscopy as well as emission observations will help confirm the presence of TiO and constrain its role in shaping the vertical thermal structure of HAT-P-65b’s atmosphere.