NIR transmission spectra of TRAPPIST-1 planets

Its habitable-zone exoplanets - due to their favorable transit depths - are also worlds for which atmospheric transmission spectroscopy is within reach with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). We present here an independent reduction and analysis of two HST Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) near-infrared transit spectroscopy data sets for six planets (b through g).

Utilizing our physically motivated detector charge-trap correction and a custom cosmic-ray correction routine, we confirm the general shape of the transmission spectra presented by de Wit et al. (2016Natur.537...69D). Our data reduction approach leads to a 25% increase in the usable data and reduces the risk of confusing astrophysical brightness variations (e.g., flares) with instrumental systematics. No prominent absorption features are detected in any individual planet's transmission spectra; by contrast, the combined spectrum of the planets shows a suggestive decrease around 1.4 {mu}m similar to an inverted water absorption feature.