The quest to discover exoplanets is one of the most important missions in astrophysics, and is widely performed using the transit method, which allows for the detection of exoplanets down to the size ...of Mercury. However, to confirm these detections, additional vetting is mandatory. We selected six K2 targets from campaigns #1 to #8 that show transit light curves corresponding to Earth-sized to Neptune-sized exoplanets. We aim to discard some scenarios that could mimic an exoplanetary transit, leading to a misinterpretation of the data. We performed direct imaging observations using the SPHERE/VLT instrument to probe the close environment of these stars. For five of the K2 targets, we report no detection and we give the detection limits. For EPIC 206011496, we detect a 0.38 0.06 M companion at a separation of 977.12 0.73 mas (140.19 0.11 au). The spectral analysis corresponds to an M4-7 star, and the analysis of the proper motion shows that it is bounded to the primary star. EPIC 206011496 also hosts an Earth-like planetary candidate. If it transits the primary star, its radius is consistent with that of a super-Earth. However, if it transits the companion star, it falls into the mini-Neptune regime.
Imaging radial velocity planets with SPHERE Zurlo, A; Mesa, D; Desidera, S ...
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,
10/2018, Letnik:
480, Številka:
1
Journal Article
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We present observations with the planet finder Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE) of a selected sample of the most promising radial velocity (RV) companions for ...high-contrast imaging. Using a Monte Carlo simulation to explore all the possible inclinations of the orbit of wide RV companions, we identified the systems with companions that could potentially be detected with SPHERE. We found the most favourable RV systems to observe are: HD 142, GJ 676, HD 39091, HIP 70849, and HD 30177 and carried out observations of these systems during SPHERE Guaranteed Time Observing. To reduce the intensity of the starlight and reveal faint companions, we used principal component analysis algorithms alongside angular and spectral differential imaging. We injected synthetic planets with known flux to evaluate the self-subtraction caused by our data reduction and to determine the 5σ contrast in the J band versus separation for our reduced images. We estimated the upper limit on detectable companion mass around the selected stars from the contrast plot obtained from our data reduction. Although our observations enabled contrasts larger than 15 mag at a few tenths of arcsec from the host stars, we detected no planets. However, we were able to set upper mass limits around the stars using AMES-COND evolutionary models. We can exclude the presence of companions more massive than 25–28 MJup around these stars, confirming the substellar nature of these RV companions.
We present results from a large, high-spatial-resolution near-infrared imaging search for stellar and sub-stellar companions in the Taurus-Auriga star-forming region. The sample covers 64 stars with ...masses between those of the most massive Taurus members at ~3 M sub(middot in circle) and low-mass stars at ~0.2 M sub(middot in circle). We detected 74 companion candidates, 34 of these reported for the first time. Twenty-five companions are likely physically bound, partly confirmed by follow-up observations. Four candidate companions are likely unrelated field stars. Assuming physical association with their host star, estimated companion masses are as low as ~2 M sub(Jup). The inferred multiplicity frequency within our sensitivity limits between ~10-1500 AU is (ProQuest: Formulae and/or non-USASCII text omitted). Applying a completeness correction, 62% + or - 14% of all Taurus stars between 0.7 and 1.4 M sub(middot in circle) appear to be multiple. Higher order multiples were found in (ProQuest: Formulae and/or non-USASCII text omitted) of the cases, in agreement with previous observations of the field. We estimate a sub-stellar companion frequency of ~3.5%-8.8% within our sensitivity limits from the discovery of two likely bound and three other tentative very low-mass companions. This frequency appears to be in agreement with what is expected from the tail of the stellar companion mass ratio distribution, suggesting that stellar and brown dwarf companions share the same dominant formation mechanism. Further, we find evidence for possible evolution of binary parameters between two identified sub-populations in Taurus with ages of ~2 Myr and ~20 Myr, respectively.
We present the results of the largest L′ (3.8 m) direct imaging survey for exoplanets to date, the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer Exozodi Exoplanet Common Hunt (LEECH). We observed 98 stars ...with spectral types from B to M. Cool planets emit a larger share of their flux in L′ compared to shorter wavelengths, affording LEECH an advantage in detecting low-mass, old, and cold-start giant planets. We emphasize proximity over youth in our target selection, probing physical separations smaller than other direct imaging surveys. For FGK stars, LEECH outperforms many previous studies, placing tighter constraints on the hot-start planet occurrence frequency interior to ∼20 au. For less luminous, cold-start planets, LEECH provides the best constraints on giant-planet frequency interior to ∼20 au around FGK stars. Direct imaging survey results depend sensitively on both the choice of evolutionary model (e.g., hot- or cold-start) and assumptions (explicit or implicit) about the shape of the underlying planet distribution, in particular its radial extent. Artificially low limits on the planet occurrence frequency can be derived when the shape of the planet distribution is assumed to extend to very large separations, well beyond typical protoplanetary dust-disk radii ( 50 au), and when hot-start models are used exclusively. We place a conservative upper limit on the planet occurrence frequency using cold-start models and planetary population distributions that do not extend beyond typical protoplanetary dust-disk radii. We find that 90% of FGK systems can host a 7-10 MJup planet from 5 to 50 au. This limit leaves open the possibility that planets in this range are common.
Abstract
The recent discovery of an earth-like planet around Proxima Centauri has drawn much attention to this star and its environment. We performed a series of observations of Proxima Centauri ...using Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE), the planet-finder instrument installed at the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) UT3, using its near-infrared modules, InfraRed Dual-band Imager and Spectrograph (IRDIS) and IFS. No planet was detected directly, but we set upper limits on the mass up to 7 au by exploiting the AMES-COND models. Our IFS observations reveal that no planet more massive than ∼6–7 M
Jup can be present within 1 au. The dual-band imaging camera IRDIS also enables us to probe larger separations than other techniques such as radial velocity or astrometry. We obtained mass limits of the order of 4 M
Jup at separations of 2 au or larger, representing the most stringent mass limits at separations larger than 5 au available at the moment. We also made an attempt to estimate the radius of possible planets around Proxima using the reflected light. Since the residual noise for the observations is dominated by photon noise and thermal background, longer exposures in good observing conditions could improve the achievable contrast limit further.
Even though only a handful of sub-stellar companions have been found via direct imaging, each of these discoveries has had a tremendous impact on our understanding of the star formation process and ...the physics of cool atmospheres. Young stars are prime targets for direct imaging searches for planets and brown dwarfs due to the favorable brightness contrast expected at such ages and also because it is often possible to derive relatively good age estimates for these primaries. Here we present the direct imaging discovery of HD 284149 b, a 18-50 M {sub Jup} companion at a projected separation of 400 AU from a young (25{sub 10}{sup +25} Myr) F8 star, with which it shares common proper motion.
Workshop Summary: Exoplanet Orbits and Dynamics Maire, Anne-Lise; Delrez, Laetitia; Pozuelos, Francisco J. ...
Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific,
10/2023, Letnik:
135, Številka:
1052
Journal Article, Web Resource
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Abstract
Exoplanetary systems show a wide variety of architectures, which can be explained by different formation and dynamical evolution processes. Precise orbital monitoring is mandatory to ...accurately constrain their orbital and dynamical parameters. Although major observational and theoretical advances have been made in understanding the architecture and dynamical properties of exoplanetary systems, many outstanding questions remain. This paper aims to give a brief review of a few current challenges in orbital and dynamical studies of exoplanetary systems and a few future prospects for improving our knowledge. Joint data analyses from several techniques are providing precise measurements of orbits and masses for a growing sample of exoplanetary systems, both with close-in orbits and with wide orbits, as well as different evolutionary stages. The sample of young planets detected around stars with circumstellar disks is also growing, allowing for simultaneous studies of planets and their birthplace environments. These analyses will expand with ongoing and future facilities from both ground and space, allowing for detailed tests of formation, evolution, and atmospheric models of exoplanets. Moreover, these detailed analyses may offer the possibility of finding missing components of exoplanetary systems, such as exomoons, or even finding new exotic configurations such as co-orbital planets. In addition to unveiling the architecture of planetary systems, precise measurements of orbital parameters and stellar properties—in combination with more realistic models for tidal interactions and the integration of such models in
N
-body codes—will improve the inference of the past history of mature exoplanetary systems in close-in orbits. These improvements will allow a better understanding of planetary formation and evolution, placing the solar system in context.
We present JWST Early Release Science coronagraphic observations of the super-Jupiter exoplanet, HIP 65426b, with the Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) from 2 to 5 μ m, and with the Mid-Infrared ...Instrument (MIRI) from 11 to 16 μ m. At a separation of ∼0.″82 (87 − 31 + 108 au), HIP 65426b is clearly detected in all seven of our observational filters, representing the first images of an exoplanet to be obtained by JWST, and the first-ever direct detection of an exoplanet beyond 5 μ m. These observations demonstrate that JWST is exceeding its nominal predicted performance by up to a factor of 10, depending on separation and subtraction method, with measured 5 σ contrast limits of ∼1 × 10 −5 and ∼2 × 10 −4 at 1″ for NIRCam at 4.4 μ m and MIRI at 11.3 μ m, respectively. These contrast limits provide sensitivity to sub-Jupiter companions with masses as low as 0.3 M Jup beyond separations of ∼100 au. Together with existing ground-based near-infrared data, the JWST photometry are fit well by a BT-SETTL atmospheric model from 1 to 16 μ m, and they span ∼97% of HIP 65426b's luminous range. Independent of the choice of model atmosphere, we measure an empirical bolometric luminosity that is tightly constrained between log L bol / L ⊙ = −4.31 and −4.14, which in turn provides a robust mass constraint of 7.1 ± 1.2 M Jup . In totality, these observations confirm that JWST presents a powerful and exciting opportunity to characterize the population of exoplanets amenable to high-contrast imaging in greater detail.
We present the discoveries of three faint companions to young stars in the Scorpius-Centaurus region, imaged with the NICI instrument on Gemini South. We have confirmed all three companions through ...common proper motion tests. Follow-up spectroscopy has confirmed two of them, HIP 65423 B and HIP 65517 B, to be brown dwarfs, while the third, HIP 72099 B, is more likely a very low mass star just above the hydrogen burning limit. The detection of wide companions in the mass range of ~40-100 M sub(jup) complements previous work in the same region, reporting detections of similarly wide companions with lower masses, in the range of ~10-30 M sub(jup). Such low masses near the deuterium burning limit have raised the question of whether those objects formed like planets or stars. The existence of intermediate objects as reported here could represent a bridge between lower-mass companions and stellar companions, but in any case demonstrate that mass alone may not provide a clear-cut distinction for the formation of low-mass companions to stars.
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