Abstract
We present spectrophotometry spanning 1–5
μ
m of 51 Eridani b, a 2–10
planet discovered by the Gemini Planet Imager Exoplanet Survey. In this study, we present new
K
1 (1.90–2.19
μ
m) and
K
...2 (2.10–2.40
μ
m) spectra taken with the Gemini Planet Imager as well as an updated
L
P
(3.76
μ
m) and new
M
S
(4.67
μ
m) photometry from the NIRC2 Narrow camera. The new data were combined with
J
(1.13–1.35
μ
m) and
H
(1.50–1.80
μ
m) spectra from the discovery epoch with the goal of better characterizing the planet properties. The 51 Eri b photometry is redder than field brown dwarfs as well as known young T-dwarfs with similar spectral type (between T4 and T8), and we propose that 51 Eri b might be in the process of undergoing the transition from L-type to T-type. We used two complementary atmosphere model grids including either deep iron/silicate clouds or sulfide/salt clouds in the photosphere, spanning a range of cloud properties, including fully cloudy, cloud-free, and patchy/intermediate-opacity clouds. The model fits suggest that 51 Eri b has an effective temperature ranging between 605 and 737 K, a solar metallicity, and a surface gravity of log(
g
) = 3.5–4.0 dex, and the atmosphere requires a patchy cloud atmosphere to model the spectral energy distribution (SED). From the model atmospheres, we infer a luminosity for the planet of −5.83 to −5.93 (
), leaving 51 Eri b in the unique position of being one of the only directly imaged planets consistent with having formed via a cold-start scenario. Comparisons of the planet SED against warm-start models indicate that the planet luminosity is best reproduced by a planet formed via core accretion with a core mass between 15 and 127
.
Context.
The vector Apodizing Phase Plate (vAPP) is a pupil plane coronagraph that suppresses starlight by forming a dark hole in its point spread function (PSF). The unconventional and ...non-axisymmetrical PSF arising from the phase modification applied by this coronagraph presents a special challenge to post-processing techniques.
Aims.
We aim to implement a recently developed post-processing algorithm, temporal reference analysis of planets (TRAP) on vAPP coronagraphic data. The property of TRAP that uses non-local training pixels, combined with the unconventional PSF of vAPP, allows for more flexibility than previous spatial algorithms in selecting reference pixels to model systematic noise.
Methods.
Datasets from two types of vAPPs are analysed: a double grating-vAPP (dgvAPP360) that produces a single symmetric PSF and a grating-vAPP (gvAPP180) that produces two D-shaped PSFs. We explore how to choose reference pixels to build temporal systematic noise models in TRAP for them. We then compare the performance of TRAP with previously implemented algorithms that produced the best signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) in companion detections in these datasets.
Results.
We find that the systematic noise between the two D-shaped PSFs is not as temporally associated as expected. Conversely, there is still a significant number of systematic noise sources that are shared by the dark hole and the bright side in the same PSF. We should choose reference pixels from the same PSF when reducing the dgvAPP360 dataset or the gvAPP180 dataset with TRAP. In these datasets, TRAP achieves results consistent with previous best detections, with an improved S/N for the gvAPP180 dataset.
Abstract
Using the Gemini Planet Imager located at Gemini South, we measured the near-infrared (1.0–2.4
μ
m) spectrum of the planetary companion to the nearby, young star
β
Pictoris. We compare the ...spectrum obtained with currently published model grids and with known substellar objects and present the best matching models as well as the best matching observed objects. Comparing the empirical measurement of the bolometric luminosity to evolutionary models, we find a mass of 12.9 ± 0.2
, an effective temperature of 1724 ± 15 K, a radius of 1.46 ± 0.01
, and a surface gravity of
dex (cgs). The stated uncertainties are statistical errors only, and do not incorporate any uncertainty on the evolutionary models. Using atmospheric models, we find an effective temperature of 1700–1800 K and a surface gravity of
–4.0 dex depending upon the model. These values agree well with other publications and with “hot-start” predictions from planetary evolution models. Further, we find that the spectrum of
β
Pic b best matches a low surface gravity L2 ± 1 brown dwarf. Finally, comparing the spectrum to field brown dwarfs, we find the the spectrum best matches 2MASS J04062677–381210 and 2MASS J03552337+1133437.
We present a new matched-filter algorithm for direct detection of point sources in the immediate vicinity of bright stars. The stellar point-spread function (PSF) is first subtracted using a ...Karhunen-Loéve image processing (KLIP) algorithm with angular and spectral differential imaging (ADI and SDI). The KLIP-induced distortion of the astrophysical signal is included in the matched-filter template by computing a forward model of the PSF at every position in the image. To optimize the performance of the algorithm, we conduct extensive planet injection and recovery tests and tune the exoplanet spectra template and KLIP reduction aggressiveness to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of the recovered planets. We show that only two spectral templates are necessary to recover any young Jovian exoplanets with minimal S/N loss. We also developed a complete pipeline for the automated detection of point-source candidates, the calculation of receiver operating characteristics (ROC), contrast curves based on false positives, and completeness contours. We process in a uniform manner more than 330 data sets from the Gemini Planet Imager Exoplanet Survey and assess GPI typical sensitivity as a function of the star and the hypothetical companion spectral type. This work allows for the first time a comparison of different detection algorithms at a survey scale accounting for both planet completeness and false-positive rate. We show that the new forward model matched filter allows the detection of 50% fainter objects than a conventional cross-correlation technique with a Gaussian PSF template for the same false-positive rate.
We present H band spectroscopic and H photometric observations of HD 100546 obtained with the Gemini Planet Imager and the Magellan Visible AO camera. We detect H band emission at the location of the ...protoplanet HD 100546 b, but show that the choice of data processing parameters strongly affects the morphology of this source. It appears point-like in some aggressive reductions, but rejoins an extended disk structure in the majority of the others. Furthermore, we demonstrate that this emission appears stationary on a timescale of 4.6 years, inconsistent at the 2 level with a Keplerian clockwise orbit at 59 au in the disk plane. The H band spectrum of the emission is inconsistent with any type of low effective temperature object or accreting protoplanetary disk. It strongly suggests a scattered-light origin, as this is consistent with the spectrum of the star and the spectra extracted at other locations in the disk. A non-detection at the 5 level of HD 100546 b in differential H imaging places an upper limit, assuming the protoplanet lies in a gap free of extinction, on the accretion luminosity of 1.7 × 10−4 L and for 1 RJup. These limits are comparable to the accretion luminosity and accretion rate of T-Tauri stars or LkCa 15 b. Taken together, these lines of evidence suggest that the H band source at the location of HD 100546 b is not emitted by a planetary photosphere or an accreting circumplanetary disk but is a disk feature enhanced by the point-spread function subtraction process. This non-detection is consistent with the non-detection in the K band reported in an earlier study but does not exclude the possibility that HD 100546 b is deeply embedded.
ABSTRACT We present new H (1.5-1.8 m) photometric and K1 (1.9-2.2 m) spectroscopic observations of the young exoplanet HD 95086 b obtained with the Gemini Planet Imager. The H-band magnitude has been ...significantly improved relative to previous measurements, whereas the low-resolution K1 ( ) spectrum is featureless within the measurement uncertainties and presents a monotonically increasing pseudo-continuum consistent with a cloudy atmosphere. By combining these new measurements with literature photometry, we compare the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the planet to other young planetary-mass companions, field brown dwarfs, and to the predictions of grids of model atmospheres. HD 95086 b is over a magnitude redder in color than 2MASS J12073346-3932539 b and HR 8799 c and d, despite having a similar magnitude. Considering only the near-infrared measurements, HD 95086 b is most analogous to the brown dwarfs 2MASS J2244316+204343 and 2MASS J21481633+4003594, both of which are thought to have dusty atmospheres. Morphologically, the SED of HD 95086 b is best fit by low temperature ( = 800-1300 K), low surface gravity spectra from models which simulate high photospheric dust content. This range of effective temperatures is consistent with field L/T transition objects, but the spectral type of HD 95086 b is poorly constrained between early L and late T due to its unusual position the color-magnitude diagram, demonstrating the difficulty in spectral typing young, low surface gravity substellar objects. As one of the reddest such objects, HD 95086 b represents an important empirical benchmark against which our current understanding of the atmospheric properties of young extrasolar planets can be tested.
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