Context. PDS 70 is a young (5.4 Myr), nearby (~113 pc) star hosting a known transition disk with a large gap. Recent observations with SPHERE and NACO in the near-infrared (NIR) allowed us to detect ...a planetary mass companion, PDS 70 b, within the disk cavity. Moreover, observations in Hα with MagAO and MUSE revealed emission associated to PDS 70 b and to another new companion candidate, PDS 70 c, at a larger separation from the star. PDS 70 is the only multiple planetary system at its formation stage detected so far through direct imaging. Aims. Our aim is to confirm the discovery of the second planet PDS 70 c using SPHERE at VLT, to further characterize its physical properties, and search for additional point sources in this young planetary system. Methods. We re-analyzed archival SPHERE NIR observations and obtained new data in Y, J, H and K spectral bands for a total of four different epochs. The data were reduced using the data reduction and handling pipeline and the SPHERE data center. We then applied custom routines (e.g., ANDROMEDA and PACO) to subtract the starlight. Results. We re-detect both PDS 70 b and c and confirm that PDS 70 c is gravitationally bound to the star. We estimate this second planet to be less massive than 5 MJup and with a Teff around 900 K. Also, it has a low gravity with logg between 3.0 and 3.5 dex. In addition, a third object has been identified at short separation (~0.12′′) from the star and gravitationally bound to the star. Its spectrum is however very blue, meaning that we are probably seeing stellar light reflected by dust and our analysis seems to demonstrate that it is a feature of the inner disk. We cannot however completely exclude the possibility that it is a planetary mass object enshrouded by a dust envelope. In this latter case, its mass should be of the order of a few tens of M⊕. Moreover, we propose a possible structure for the planetary system based on our data, and find that this structure cannot be stable on a long timescale.
ABSTRACT
HD 163296 is a Herbig Ae/Be star known to host a protoplanetary disc with a ringed structure. To explain the disc features, previous works proposed the presence of planets embedded into the ...disc. We have observed HD 163296 with the near-infrared (NIR) branch of SPHERE composed by IRDIS (InfraRed Dual-band Imager and Spectrograph) and IFS (integral field spectrograph) with the aim to put tight constraints on the presence of substellar companions around this star. Despite the low rotation of the field of view during our observation we were able to put upper mass limits of few MJup around this object. These limits do not allow to give any definitive conclusion about the planets proposed through the disc characteristics. On the other hand, our results seem to exclude the presence of the only candidate proposed until now using direct imaging in the NIR even if some caution has to be taken considered the different wavelength bands of the two observations.
Context.
Direct imaging is a method of choice for probing the close environment of young stars. Even with the coupling of adaptive optics and coronagraphy, the direct detection of off-axis sources ...such as circumstellar disks and exoplanets remains challenging due to the required high contrast and small angular resolution. Angular differential imaging (ADI) is an observational technique that introduces an angular diversity to help disentangle the signal of off-axis sources from the residual signal of the star in a post-processing step.
Aims.
While various detection algorithms have been proposed in the last decade to process ADI sequences and reach high contrast for the detection of point-like sources, very few methods are available to reconstruct meaningful images of extended features such as circumstellar disks. The purpose of this paper is to describe a new post-processing algorithm dedicated to the reconstruction of the spatial distribution of light (total intensity) received from off-axis sources, in particular from circumstellar disks.
Methods.
Built on the recent
PACO
algorithm dedicated to the detection of point-like sources, the proposed method is based on the local learning of patch covariances capturing the spatial fluctuations of the stellar leakages. From this statistical modeling, we develop a regularized image reconstruction algorithm (
REXPACO
) following an inverse problems approach based on a forward image formation model of the off-axis sources in the ADI sequences.
Results.
Injections of fake circumstellar disks in ADI sequences from the VLT/SPHERE-IRDIS instrument show that both the morphology and the photometry of the disks are better preserved by
REXPACO
compared to standard post-processing methods such as cADI. In particular, the modeling of the spatial covariances proves useful in reducing typical ADI artifacts and in better disentangling the signal of these sources from the residual stellar contamination. The application to stars hosting circumstellar disks with various morphologies confirms the ability of
REXPACO
to produce images of the light distribution with reduced artifacts. Finally, we show how
REXPACO
can be combined with
PACO
to disentangle the signal of circumstellar disks from the signal of candidate point-like sources.
Conclusions.
REXPACO
is a novel post-processing algorithm for reconstructing images of the circumstellar environment from high contrast ADI sequences. It produces numerically deblurred images and exploits the spatial covariances of the stellar leakages and of the noise to efficiently eliminate this nuisance term. The processing is fully unsupervised, all tuning parameters being directly estimated from the data themselves.
Context.
The detection of exoplanets by direct imaging is very challenging. It requires an extreme adaptive-optics (AO) system and a coronagraph as well as suitable observing strategies. In angular ...differential imaging, the signal-to-noise ratio is improved by combining several observations.
Aims.
Due to the evolution of the observation conditions and of the AO correction, the quality of the observations may vary significantly during the observing sequence. It is common practice to reject images of comparatively poor quality. We aim to decipher when this selection should be performed and what its impact on detection performance is.
Methods.
Rather than discarding a full image, we study the local fluctuations of the signal at each frame and derive weighting maps for each frame. These fluctuations are modeled locally directly from the data through the spatio-temporal covariance of small image patches. The weights derived from the temporal variances can be used to improve the robustness of the detection step and reduce estimation errors of both the astrometry and photometry. The impact of bad frames can be analyzed by statistically characterizing the detection and estimation performance.
Results.
When used together with a modeling of the spatial covariances (PACO algorithm), these weights improve the robustness of the detection method.
Conclusions.
The spatio-temporal modeling of the background fluctuations provides a way to exploit all acquired frames. In the case of bad frames, areas with larger fluctuations are discarded by a weighting strategy and do not corrupt the detection map or the astrometric and photometric estimations. Other areas of better quality are preserved and are included to detect and characterize sources.
Context.
In recent decades, direct imaging has confirmed the existence of substellar companions (exoplanets or brown dwarfs) on wide orbits (>10 au) around their host stars. In striving to understand ...their formation and evolution mechanisms, in 2015 we initiated the SPHERE infrared survey for exoplanets (SHINE), a systematic direct imaging survey of young, nearby stars that is targeted at exploring their demographics.
Aims.
We aim to detect and characterize the population of giant planets and brown dwarfs beyond the snow line around young, nearby stars. Combined with the survey completeness, our observations offer the opportunity to constrain the statistical properties (occurrence, mass and orbital distributions, dependency on the stellar mass) of these young giant planets.
Methods.
In this study, we present the observing and data analysis strategy, the ranking process of the detected candidates, and the survey performances for a subsample of 150 stars that are representative of the full SHINE sample. Observations were conducted in a homogeneous way between February 2015 and February 2017 with the dedicated ground-based VLT/SPHERE instrument equipped with the IFS integral field spectrograph and the IRDIS dual-band imager, covering a spectral range between 0.9 and 2.3 μm. We used coronographic, angular, and spectral differential imaging techniques to achieve the best detection performances for this study, down to the planetary mass regime.
Results.
We processed, in a uniform manner, more than 300 SHINE observations and datasets to assess the survey typical sensitivity as a function of the host star and of the observing conditions. The median detection performance reached 5
σ
-contrasts of 13 mag at 200 mas and 14.2 mag at 800 mas with the IFS (
YJ
and
YJH
bands), and of 11.8 mag at 200 mas, 13.1 mag at 800 mas, and 15.8 mag at 3 as with IRDIS in
H
band, delivering one of the deepest sensitivity surveys thus far for young, nearby stars. A total of sixteen substellar companions were imaged in this first part of SHINE: seven brown dwarf companions and ten planetary-mass companions.These include two new discoveries, HIP 65426 b and HIP 64892 B, but not the planets around PDS70 that had not been originally selected for the SHINE core sample. A total of 1483 candidates were detected, mainly in the large field of view that characterizes IRDIS. The color-magnitude diagrams, low-resolution spectrum (when available with IFS), and follow-up observations enabled us to identify the nature (background contaminant or comoving companion) of about 86% of our subsample. The remaining cases are often connected to crowded-field follow-up observations that were missing. Finally, even though SHINE was not initially designed for disk searches, we imaged twelve circumstellar disks, including three new detections around the HIP 73145, HIP 86598, and HD 106906 systems.
Conclusions.
Nowadays, direct imaging provides a unique opportunity to probe the outer part of exoplanetary systems beyond 10 au to explore planetary architectures, as highlighted by the discoveries of: one new exoplanet, one new brown dwarf companion, and three new debris disks during this early phase of SHINE. It also offers the opportunity to explore and revisit the physical and orbital properties of these young, giant planets and brown dwarf companions (relative position, photometry, and low-resolution spectrum in near-infrared, predicted masses, and contrast in order to search for additional companions). Finally, these results highlight the importance of finalizing the SHINE systematic observation of about 500 young, nearby stars for a full exploration of their outer part to explore the demographics of young giant planets beyond 10 au and to identify the most interesting systems for the next generation of high-contrast imagers on very large and extremely large telescopes.
Context.
Despite tremendous progress in the detection and characterization of extrasolar planetary systems in the last 25 yr, we have not pinpointed any Solar System analogues. In particular, ...Jupiter-like planets (either mature or old) are barely detectable beyond 5 au with indirect techniques and they are still out of the reach of direct imaging techniques.
Aims.
Our study is aimed at a search for exoplanets throughout the whole ESO/VLT-SPHERE archive with an improved and unsupervised data analysis algorithm that could allow us to detect massive giant planets at 5 au. To prepare, test, and optimize our approach, we gathered a sample of 24 solar-type stars observed with SPHERE using angular and spectral differential imaging modes.
Methods.
We used PACO, a recently developed new-generation algorithm that has been shown to outperform classical methods. We also improved the SPHERE pre-reduction pipeline and optimized the outputs of PACO to enhance the detection performance. We developed custom-built spectral prior libraries to optimize the detection capability of the ASDI mode for both IRDIS and IFS.
Results.
Compared to previous works conducted with more classical algorithms, the contrast limits we derived with PACO are more reliable and significantly improved, especially at short angular separations, where a gain by a factor ten has been obtained between 0.2 and 0.5 arcsec. Under good observing conditions, planets down to 5
M
Jup
, orbiting at 5 au could be detected around stars within 60 parsec. We identified two exoplanet candidates that will require a follow-up to test for a common proper motion.
Conclusions.
In this work, we use a small sample to demonstrate the benefits of PACO in terms of achievable contrast and of control of the confidence levels. In addition, we have developed custom tools to take full advantage of this algorithm and to quantity the total error budget on the estimated astrometry and photometry. This work paves the way towards an end-to-end, homogeneous, and unsupervised massive re-reduction of archival direct imaging surveys in the quest for new exo-Jupiters.
Context.
Virtually all known exoplanets reside around stars with
M <
2.3
M
⊙
either due to the rapid evaporation of the protostellar disks or to selection effects impeding detections around more ...massive stellar hosts.
Aims.
To clarify if this dearth of planets is real or a selection effect, we launched the planet-hunting B-star Exoplanet Abundance STudy (BEAST) survey targeting B stars (M > 2.4 M
⊙
) in the young (5−20 Myr) Scorpius-Centaurus association by means of the high-contrast spectro-imager SPHERE at the Very Large Telescope.
Methods.
In this paper we present the analysis of high-contrast images of the massive (M ~ 9 M
⊙
) star
μ
2
Sco obtained within BEAST. We carefully examined the properties of this star, combining data from
Gaia
and from the literature, and used state-of-the-art algorithms for the reduction and analysis of our observations.
Results.
Based on kinematic information, we found that μ
2
Sco is a member of a small group which we label Eastern Lower Scorpius within the Scorpius-Centaurus association. We were thus able to constrain its distance, refining in turn the precision on stellar parameters. Around this star we identify a robustly detected substellar companion (14.4 ± 0.8
M
J
)at a projected separation of 290 ± 10 au, and a probable second similar object (18.5 ± 1.5
M
J
) at 21 ± 1 au. The planet-to-star mass ratios of these objects are similar to that of Jupiter to the Sun, and the flux they receive from the star is similar to those of Jupiter and Mercury, respectively.
Conclusions.
The robust and the probable companions of
μ
2
Sco are naturally added to the giant 10.9
M
J
planet recently discovered by BEAST around the binary b Cen system. While these objects are slightly more massive than the deuterium burning limit, their properties are similar to those of giant planets around less massive stars and they are better reproduced by assuming that they formed under a planet-like, rather than a star-like scenario. Irrespective of the (needed) confirmation of the inner companion,
μ
2
Sco is the first star that would end its life as a supernova that hosts such a system. The tentative high frequency of BEAST discoveries is unexpected, and it shows that systems with giant planets or small-mass brown dwarfs can form around B stars. When putting this finding in the context of core accretion and gravitational instability formation scenarios, we conclude that the current modeling of both mechanisms is not able to produce this kind of companion. The completion of BEAST will pave the way for the first time to an extension of these models to intermediate and massive stars.
Context.
The nearby and young
β
Pictoris system hosts a well resolved disk, a directly imaged massive giant planet orbiting at ≃9 au, as well as an inner planet orbiting at ≃2.7 au, which was ...recently detected through radial velocity (RV). As such, it offers several unique opportunities for detailed studies of planetary system formation and early evolution.
Aims.
We aim to further constrain the orbital and physical properties of
β
Pictoris b and c using a combination of high contrast imaging, long base-line interferometry, and RV data. We also predict the closest approaches or the transit times of both planets, and we constrain the presence of additional planets in the system.
Methods.
We obtained six additional epochs of SPHERE data, six additional epochs of GRAVITY data, and five additional epochs of RV data. We combined these various types of data in a single Markov-chain Monte Carlo analysis to constrain the orbital parameters and masses of the two planets simultaneously. The analysis takes into account the gravitational influence of both planets on the star and hence their relative astrometry. Secondly, we used the RV and high contrast imaging data to derive the probabilities of presence of additional planets throughout the disk, and we tested the impact of absolute astrometry.
Results.
The orbital properties of both planets are constrained with a semi-major axis of 9.8 ± 0.4 au and 2.7 ± 0.02 au for b and c, respectively, and eccentricities of 0.09 ± 0.1 and 0.27 ± 0.07, assuming the H
IPPARCOS
distance. We note that despite these low fitting error bars, the eccentricity of
β
Pictoris c might still be over-estimated. If no prior is provided on the mass of
β
Pictoris b, we obtain a very low value that is inconsistent with what is derived from brightness-mass models. When we set an evolutionary model motivated prior to the mass of
β
Pictoris b, we find a solution in the 10–11
M
Jup
range. Conversely,
β
Pictoris c’s mass is well constrained, at 7.8 ± 0.4
M
Jup
, assuming both planets are on coplanar orbits. These values depend on the assumptions on the distance of the
β
Pictoris system. The absolute astrometry H
IPPARCOS
-
Gaia
data are consistent with the solutions presented here at the 2
σ
level, but these solutions are fully driven by the relative astrometry plus RV data. Finally, we derive unprecedented limits on the presence of additional planets in the disk. We can now exclude the presence of planets that are more massive than about 2.5
M
Jup
closer than 3 au, and more massive than 3.5
M
Jup
between 3 and 7.5 au. Beyond 7.5 au, we exclude the presence of planets that are more massive than 1–2
M
Jup
.
Conclusions.
Combining relative astrometry and RVs allows one to precisely constrain the orbital parameters of both planets and to give lower limits to potential additional planets throughout the disk. The mass of
β
Pictoris c is also well constrained, while additional RV data with appropriate observing strategies are required to properly constrain the mass of
β
Pictoris b.
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