planetary systems; planets and satellites: gaseous planets; stars: imaging; techniques: high angular resolution
Abstract :
[en] We present the results of the largest L‧ (3.8 μm) 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 M [SUB]Jup[/SUB] planet from 5 to 50 au. This limit leaves open the possibility that planets in this range are common.
Disciplines :
Space science, astronomy & astrophysics
Author, co-author :
Stone, Jordan M. ; Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Ave, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065 USA
Skemer, Andrew J. ; Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
Hinz, Philip M.; Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Ave, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065 USA
Bonavita, Mariangela ; SUPA, Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
Kratter, Kaitlin M. ; Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Ave, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065 USA
Maire, Anne-Lise ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > PSILab
Defrere, Denis ; Université de Liège - ULiège > CSL (Centre Spatial de Liège)
Bailey, Vanessa P. ; Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91109, USA
Spalding, Eckhart; Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Ave, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065 USA
Leisenring, Jarron M. ; Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Ave, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065 USA
Bonnefoy, M.; Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, F-38000 Grenoble, France
Biller, Beth ; SUPA, Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Royal Observatory, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK ; Centre for Exoplanet Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
Woodward, Charles E.; Minnesota Institute of Astrophysics, University of Minnesota, 116 Church Street, SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
Henning, Th; Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
Skrutskie, Michael F.; Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA
Eisner, J. A. ; Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Ave, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065 USA
Crepp, Justin R. ; Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, 225 Niuwland Science Hall, Notre Dame, IN, 46556, USA
Patience, Jennifer; School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 871404, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA
Weigelt, Gerd ; Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, D-53121 Bonn, Germany
De Rosa, Robert J.; Astronomy Department, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Schlieder, Joshua ; Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany ; Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics Laboratory, Code 667, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Road, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
Brandner, Wolfgang; Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
Apai, Dániel ; Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Ave, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065 USA ; Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany ; Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, The University of Arizona, 1629 E. University Boulevard, Tucson, AZ 85721 USA
Su, Kate ; Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Ave, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065 USA
Ertel, Steve; Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Ave, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065 USA
Ward-Duong, Kimberly ; Five College Astronomy Department, Amherst College, Amherst, MA 01002, USA
Morzinski, Katie M. ; Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Ave, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065 USA
Schertl, Dieter; Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, D-53121 Bonn, Germany
Hofmann, Karl-Heinz; Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, D-53121 Bonn, Germany
Close, Laird M. ; Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Ave, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065 USA
Brems, Stefan S.; Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Landessternwarte, Königstuhl 12, D-69117 Heidelberg, Germany
Fortney, Jonathan J. ; Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
Oza, Apurva; Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA ; Physikalisches Institut, Universität Bern, Gesellschaftsstrasse 6, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland
Buenzli, Esther ; Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zurich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 27, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
Bass, Brandon; Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, 933 N. Cherry Ave, Tucson, AZ 85721-0065 USA)
