Super-Earth masses and stellar abundances from NIRPS reveal tentative evidence for water-rich formation around M dwarfs
Abstract
Tracing the compositional link between terrestrial super-Earths and their host stars provides clues to their dominant formation pathway. By constraining the stellar abundances of refractory elements, we can predict the core mass fractions (CMFs) of their super-Earths. The level of agreement between this prediction and the planetary CMF derived from their masses and radii can reveal past formation processes, like mantle stripping and water-rich formation plus sequestration in the planet's core. Here, we present the first results from the Near Infrared Planet Searcher (NIRPS) GTO CMF subprogram: an intensive radial velocity campaign to refine masses and compute host stellar abundances of three hot super-Earths around M dwarfs (GJ 1132 b, GJ 1252 b, and LTT 3780 b), calculating masses of 1.69 ± 0.15M ⊕ , 1.54 ± 0.18M ⊕ , and 2.34 ± 0.10M ⊕ respectively. We measure the CMFs of these and six further hot super-Earths with precise masses already available in the literature to 10-15% precision. We compare these to CMF predictions made from measuring the Fe, Mg, and Si abundances of their host stars measured from the NIRPS spectra. We find that the CMFs of these planets are smaller than expected from their host stellar abundances, to a statistically significant degree. This discrepancy is suggestive of significant reservoirs of water, and while these planets are too hot to harbor surface water, they likely have interior water mass fractions of ∼ 1%.
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BibTeX
@article{weisserman2026superearth,
title = {{Super-Earth masses and stellar abundances from NIRPS reveal tentative evidence for water-rich formation around M dwarfs}},
author = {Drew Weisserman and Nicole Gromek and Ryan Cloutier and Komal Bali and Charles Cadieux and Mykhaylo Plotnykov and Alexandrine L’heureux and Avidaan Srivastava and Andres Carmona and Yolanda Frensch and Étienne Artigau and Frédérique Baron and Susana Barros and Björn Benneke and Xavier Bonfils and François Bouchy and Marta Bryan and Neil Cook and Nicolas Cowan and Eduardo Cristo and Xavier Delfosse and René Doyon and Xavier Dumusque and David Ehrenreich and Jonay González Hernández and David Lafrenière and Izan de Castro Leão and Christophe Lovis and Lison Malo and Bruno Canto Martins and Alejandro Suárez Mascareño and Jose Renan de Medeiros and Claudio Melo and Lucile Mignon and Christoph Mordasini and Francesco Pepe and Rafael Rebolo and Jason Rowe and Nuno Santos and Damien Ségransan and Stéphane Udry and Diana Valencia and Gregg Wade and José Luan A. Aguiar and Romain Allart and Luc Bazinet and Jean-Baptiste Delisle and Flavie Bélanger and Joshua Blackman and Vincent Bourrier and Pedro Branco and Vincent Bruniquel and Yann Carteret and Marion Cointepas and Antoine Darveau-Bernier and Laurie Dauplaise and Elisa Delgado-Mena and Caroline Dorn and Dhvani Doshi and João Faria},
journal = {Astronomy \& Astrophysics - A\&A},
year = {2026},
month = may,
doi = {10.1051/0004-6361/202558011},
eprint = {2604.07447},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05843494v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Super-Earth masses and stellar abundances from NIRPS reveal tentative evidence for water-rich formation around M dwarfs
AU - Drew Weisserman
AU - Nicole Gromek
AU - Ryan Cloutier
AU - Komal Bali
AU - Charles Cadieux
AU - Mykhaylo Plotnykov
AU - Alexandrine L’heureux
AU - Avidaan Srivastava
AU - Andres Carmona
AU - Yolanda Frensch
AU - Étienne Artigau
AU - Frédérique Baron
AU - Susana Barros
AU - Björn Benneke
AU - Xavier Bonfils
AU - François Bouchy
AU - Marta Bryan
AU - Neil Cook
AU - Nicolas Cowan
AU - Eduardo Cristo
AU - Xavier Delfosse
AU - René Doyon
AU - Xavier Dumusque
AU - David Ehrenreich
AU - Jonay González Hernández
AU - David Lafrenière
AU - Izan de Castro Leão
AU - Christophe Lovis
AU - Lison Malo
AU - Bruno Canto Martins
AU - Alejandro Suárez Mascareño
AU - Jose Renan de Medeiros
AU - Claudio Melo
AU - Lucile Mignon
AU - Christoph Mordasini
AU - Francesco Pepe
AU - Rafael Rebolo
AU - Jason Rowe
AU - Nuno Santos
AU - Damien Ségransan
AU - Stéphane Udry
AU - Diana Valencia
AU - Gregg Wade
AU - José Luan A. Aguiar
AU - Romain Allart
AU - Luc Bazinet
AU - Jean-Baptiste Delisle
AU - Flavie Bélanger
AU - Joshua Blackman
AU - Vincent Bourrier
AU - Pedro Branco
AU - Vincent Bruniquel
AU - Yann Carteret
AU - Marion Cointepas
AU - Antoine Darveau-Bernier
AU - Laurie Dauplaise
AU - Elisa Delgado-Mena
AU - Caroline Dorn
AU - Dhvani Doshi
AU - João Faria
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/05/13
JO - Astronomy & Astrophysics - A&A
DO - 10.1051/0004-6361/202558011
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05843494v1
AB - Tracing the compositional link between terrestrial super-Earths and their host stars provides clues to their dominant formation pathway. By constraining the stellar abundances of refractory elements, we can predict the core mass fractions (CMFs) of their super-Earths. The level of agreement between this prediction and the planetary CMF derived from their masses and radii can reveal past formation processes, like mantle stripping and water-rich formation plus sequestration in the planet's core. Here, we present the first results from the Near Infrared Planet Searcher (NIRPS) GTO CMF subprogram: an intensive radial velocity campaign to refine masses and compute host stellar abundances of three hot super-Earths around M dwarfs (GJ 1132 b, GJ 1252 b, and LTT 3780 b), calculating masses of 1.69 ± 0.15M ⊕ , 1.54 ± 0.18M ⊕ , and 2.34 ± 0.10M ⊕ respectively. We measure the CMFs of these and six further hot super-Earths with precise masses already available in the literature to 10-15% precision. We compare these to CMF predictions made from measuring the Fe, Mg, and Si abundances of their host stars measured from the NIRPS spectra. We find that the CMFs of these planets are smaller than expected from their host stellar abundances, to a statistically significant degree. This discrepancy is suggestive of significant reservoirs of water, and while these planets are too hot to harbor surface water, they likely have interior water mass fractions of ∼ 1%.
SN - 0004-6361
SN - 1432-0746
ER -