Confirmation of WASP-107b's extended Helium atmosphere with Keck II/NIRSPEC

Abstract: We present the detection of helium in the extended atmosphere of the sub-Saturn WASP-107b using high resolution ($R \approx 25000$) near-infrared spectra from Keck II/NIRSPEC. We find peak excess absorption of $7.26 \pm 0.24\%$ (30$\sigma$) centered on the HeI triplet at 10833A. The amplitude and shape of the helium absorption profile is in excellent agreement with previous observations of escaping helium from this planet made by CARMENES and HST. This suggests there is no significant temporal variation in the signature of escaping helium from the planet over a two year baseline. This result demonstrates Keck II/NIRSPEC's ability to detect atmospheric escape in exoplanets, making it a useful instrument to further our understanding of the evaporation of exoplanetary atmospheres via ground-based observations of HeI.