Capitalizing on the observational advantage offered by its tiny M dwarf host,
we present HST/WFC3 grism measurements of the transmission spectrum of the
super-Earth exoplanet GJ1214b. These are the first published WFC3 observations
of a transiting exoplanet atmosphere. After correcting for a ramp-like
instrumental systematic, we achieve nearly photon-limited precision in these
observations, finding the transmission spectrum of GJ1214b to be flat between
1.1 and 1.7 microns. Inconsistent with a cloud-free solar composition
atmosphere at 8.2 sigma, the measured achromatic transit depth most likely
implies a large mean molecular weight for GJ1214b's outer envelope. A dense
atmosphere rules out bulk compositions for GJ1214b that explain its large
radius by the presence of a very low density gas layer surrounding the planet.
High-altitude clouds can alternatively explain the flat transmission spectrum,
but they would need to be optically thick up to 10 mbar or consist of particles
with a range of sizes approaching 1 micron in diameter.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Ap