Presentation #624.18 in the session Planetary Atmospheres - Hot Jupiters.
Ultra-hot Jupiters (UHJs) are captivating subjects of study due to their scorching temperatures and extreme atmospheric conditions. Composed of a vast array of gaseous metallic species, UHJs are lucrative targets to probe with high-resolution transmission spectroscopy, particularly at optical wavelengths where absorption lines from metal atoms and ions are most prevalent. We showcase one of the first UHJ transmission spectra observed with GHOST – a newly-commissioned optical high-resolution spectrograph at Gemini South, which holds much promise to make significant contributions towards furthering our understanding of a diverse sample of exoplanetary atmospheres over the coming years. We report our findings from an initial survey of chemical species in the selected UHJ’s atmosphere using the cross-correlation technique. We also highlight Python code that will be made freely downloadable to other GHOST users, to simplify the process of performing telluric corrections on GHOST spectra with Molecfit. Our results demonstrate that GHOST will be a valuable instrument for future comparative studies to investigate atmospheric trends in the broader population of UHJs with high-resolution transmission spectroscopy.