GEMS Survey (Red Dwarfs and the Seven Giants)
JWST’s largest Cycle 2 exoplanet program. Targets the rare class of giant exoplanets around M-dwarf stars (GEMS) — sometimes called “forbidden” planets because their existence at close orbits around low-mass stars is poorly explained by core-accretion or disk-instability theory.
Leadership
- shubham-kanodia (carnegie-institution-for-science)
- caleb-canas (NASA Goddard)
- jessica-libby-roberts (University of Tampa)
Notable results
- 2026 JWST NIRSpec transmission spectroscopy of toi-5205-b: atmosphere is carbon-rich and metal-poor relative to the host star (a first), CH₄ and H₂S detected. Interior models indicate ~100× decoupling between bulk and atmospheric metallicity. See src-sciencedaily-forbidden-exoplanet-atmosphere-2026-04.
- Pioneered a starspot-correction methodology applicable across M-dwarf exoplanet spectra.