arXiv subjects

Eugene Chiang

Publications and source records attributed to Eugene Chiang.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Signatures of Gravitational Instability in Resolved Images of Protostellar Disks

Protostellar (class 0/I) disks, having masses comparable to those of their nascent host stars, and fed continuously from their natal infalling envelopes, are prone to gravitational instability (GI). Motivated by advances in near-infrared (NIR) adaptive optics imaging and mm-wave interferometry, we explore the observational signatures of GI in disks, using hydrodynamical and Monte Carlo radiative transfer simulations to synthesize NIR scattered light images and mm dust continuum maps. Spiral arms induced by GI, located at disk radii of hundreds of AUs, are local overdensities and have their photospheres displaced to higher altitudes above the disk midplane, arms therefore scatter more NIR light from their central stars than inter-arm regions, and are detectable at distances up to 1 kpc by Gemini/GPI, VLT/SPHERE, and Subaru/HiCIAO/SCExAO. By contrast, collapsed clumps formed by disk fragmentation have such strong local gravitational fields that their scattering photospheres are at lower altitudes, such fragments appear fainter than their surroundings in NIR scattered light. Spiral arms and streamers recently imaged in four FU Ori systems at NIR wavelengths resemble GI-induced structures and support the interpretation that FUors are gravitationally unstable protostellar disks. At mm wavelengths, both spirals and clumps appear brighter in thermal emission than the ambient disk and can be detected by ALMA at distances up to 0.4 kpc with one-hour integration times at ~0.1 arcsec resolution. Collapsed fragments having masses >=1 MJ can be detected by ALMA within ~10 minutes.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2016

Correlations between compositions and orbits established by the giant impact era of planet formation

The giant impact phase of terrestrial planet formation establishes connections between super-Earths' orbital properties (semimajor axis spacings, eccentricities, mutual inclinations) and interior compositions (the presence or absence of gaseous envelopes). Using N-body simulations and analytic arguments, we show that spacings derive not only from eccentricities, but also from inclinations. Flatter systems attain tighter spacings, a consequence of an eccentricity equilibrium between gravitational scatterings, which increase eccentricities, and mergers, which damp them. Dynamical friction by residual disk gas plays a critical role in regulating mergers and in damping inclinations and eccentricities. Systems with moderate gas damping and high solid surface density spawn gas-enveloped super-Earths with tight spacings, small eccentricities, and small inclinations. Systems in which super-Earths coagulate without as much ambient gas, in disks with low solid surface density, produce rocky planets with wider spacings, larger eccentricities, and larger mutual inclinations. A combination of both populations can reproduce the observed distributions of spacings, period ratios, transiting planet multiplicities, and transit duration ratios exhibited by Kepler super-Earths. The two populations, both formed in situ, also help to explain observed trends of eccentricity vs. planet size, and bulk density vs. method of mass measurement (radial velocities vs. transit timing variations). Simplifications made in this study --- including the limited timespan of the simulations, and the approximate treatments of gas dynamical friction and gas depletion history --- should be improved upon in future work to enable a detailed quantitative comparison to the observations.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2016

Dust dynamics in 2D gravito-turbulent disks

The dynamics of solid bodies in protoplanetary disks are subject to the properties of any underlying gas turbulence. Turbulence driven by disk self-gravity shows features distinct from those driven by the magnetorotational instability (MRI). We study the dynamics of solids in gravito-turbulent disks with two-dimensional (in the disk plane), hybrid (particle and gas) simulations. Gravito-turbulent disks can exhibit stronger gravitational stirring than MRI-active disks, resulting in greater radial diffusion and larger eccentricities and relative speeds for large particles (those with dimensionless stopping times $t_{stop} Ω> 1$, where $Ω$ is the orbital frequency). The agglomeration of large particles into planetesimals by pairwise collisions is therefore disfavored in gravito-turbulent disks. However, the relative speeds of intermediate-size particles $t_{stop} Ω\sim 1$ are significantly reduced as such particles are collected by gas drag and gas gravity into coherent filament-like structures with densities high enough to trigger gravitational collapse. First-generation planetesimals may form via gravitational instability of dust in marginally gravitationally unstable gas disks.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2015

An M Dwarf Companion and Its Induced Spiral Arms in the HD 100453 Protoplanetary Disk

Recent VLT/SPHERE near-infrared imaging observations revealed two spiral arms with a near m=2 rotational symmetry in the protoplanetary disk around the ~1.7 solar mass Herbig star HD 100453. A ~0.3 solar mass M dwarf companion, HD 100453 B, was also identified at a projected separation of 120 AU from the primary. In this Letter, we carry out hydrodynamic and radiative transfer simulations to examine the scattered light morphology of the HD 100453 disk as perturbed by the companion on a circular and coplanar orbit. We find that the companion truncates the disk at ~45 AU in scattered light images, and excites two spiral arms in the remaining (circumprimary) disk with a near m=2 rotational symmetry. Both the truncated disk size and the morphology of the spirals are in excellent agreement with the SPHERE observations at Y , J, H, and K1-bands, suggesting that the M dwarf companion is indeed responsible for the observed double-spiral-arm pattern. Our model suggests that the disk is close to face on (inclination angle ~5 degree), and that the entire disk-companion system rotates counterclockwise on the sky. The HD 100453 observations, along with our modeling work, demonstrate that double spiral arm patterns in near-infrared scattered light images can be generically produced by companions, and support future observations to identify the companions responsible for the arms observed in the MWC 758 and SAO 206462 systems.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2015

Breeding Super-Earths and Birthing Super-Puffs in Transitional Disks

The riddle posed by super-Earths (1-4$R_\oplus$, 2-20$M_\oplus$) is that they are not Jupiters: their core masses are large enough to trigger runaway gas accretion, yet somehow super-Earths accreted atmospheres that weigh only a few percent of their total mass. We show that this puzzle is solved if super-Earths formed late, as the last vestiges of their parent gas disks were about to clear. This scenario would seem to present fine-tuning problems, but we show that there are none. Ambient gas densities can span many (up to 9) orders of magnitude, and super-Earths can still robustly emerge after $\sim$0.1-1 Myr with percent-by-weight atmospheres. Super-Earth cores are naturally bred in gas-poor environments where gas dynamical friction has weakened sufficiently to allow constituent protocores to merge. So little gas is present at the time of core assembly that cores hardly migrate by disk torques: formation of super-Earths can be in situ. The picture --- that close-in super-Earths form in a gas-poor (but not gas-empty) inner disk, fed continuously by gas that bleeds inward from a more massive outer disk --- recalls the largely evacuated but still accreting inner cavities of transitional protoplanetary disks. We also address the inverse problem presented by super-puffs: an uncommon class of short-period planets seemingly too voluminous for their small masses (4-10$R_\oplus$, 2-6$M_\oplus$). Super-puffs easily acquire their thick atmospheres as dust-free, rapidly cooling worlds outside $\sim$1 AU where nebular gas is colder, less dense, and therefore less opaque. Unlike super-Earths which can form in situ, super-puffs migrated in to their current orbits; they are expected to form the outer links of mean-motion resonant chains, and to exhibit greater water content. We close by confronting observations and itemizing remaining questions.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2015

Resolved Millimeter-Wavelength Observations of Debris Disks around Solar-Type Stars

The presence of debris disks around young main sequence stars hints at the existence and structure of planetary systems. Millimeter-wavelength observations probe large grains that trace the location of planetesimal belts. The FEPS (Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems) $Spitzer$ Legacy survey of nearby young solar analogues yielded a sample of five debris disk-hosting stars with millimeter flux suitable for interferometric follow-up. We present observations with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) and the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA) at ~2" resolution that spatially resolve the debris disks around these nearby ($d\sim$50 pc) stars. Two of the five disks (HD 377, HD 8907) are spatially resolved for the first time and one (HD 104860) is resolved at millimeter wavelengths for the first time. We combine our new observations with archival SMA and Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) data to enable a uniform analysis of the full five-object sample. We simultaneously model the broad-band photometric data and resolved millimeter visibilities to constrain the dust temperatures and disk morphologies, and perform an MCMC analysis to fit for basic structural parameters. We find that the radii and widths of the cold outer belts exhibit properties consistent with scaled-up versions of the Solar System's Kuiper Belt. All the disks exhibit characteristic grain sizes comparable to the blowout size, and all the resolved observations of emission from large dust grains are consistent with an axisymmetric dust distribution to within the uncertainties. These results are consistent with comparable studies carried out at infrared wavelengths.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2015

Weak Turbulence in the HD 163296 Protoplanetary Disk Revealed by ALMA CO Observations

Turbulence can transport angular momentum in protoplanetary disks and influence the growth and evolution of planets. With spatially and spectrally resolved molecular emission line measurements provided by (sub)millimeter interferometric observations, it is possible to directly measure non-thermal motions in the disk gas that can be attributed to this turbulence. We report a new constraint on the turbulence in the disk around HD 163296, a nearby young A star, determined from ALMA Science Verification observations of four CO emission lines (the CO(3-2), CO(2-1), 13CO(2-1), and C18O(2-1) transitions). The different optical depths for these lines permit probes of non-thermal line-widths at a range of physical conditions (temperature and density) and depths into the disk interior. We derive stringent limits on the non-thermal motions in the upper layers of the outer disk such that any contribution to the line-widths from turbulence is <3% of the local sound speed. These limits are approximately an order of magnitude lower than theoretical predictions for full-blown MHD turbulence driven by the magneto-rotational instability, potentially suggesting that this mechanism is less efficient in the outer (R>30AU) disk than has been previously considered.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2015

Spiral Arms in Gravitationally Unstable Protoplanetary Disks as Imaged in Scattered Light

Combining 3D smoothed-particle hydrodynamics and Monte Carlo radiative transfer calculations, we examine the morphology of spiral density waves induced by gravitational instability (GI) in protoplanetary disks, as they would appear in direct images at near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths. We find that systems with disk-to-star-mass ratios q=M_disk/M_star that are ~0.25 or more may produce prominent spiral arms in NIR imaging, remarkably resembling features observed in the MWC 758 and SAO 206462 systems. The contrast of GI-induced arms at NIR wavelengths can reach a factor of ~3, and their pitch angles are about 10-15 degree. The dominant azimuthal wavenumber of GI-induced spiral arms roughly obeys m~1/q in the range 2<~1/q<~8. In particular, a massive disk with q~0.5 can exhibit grand-design m=2 spirals. GI-induced arms are in approximate corotation with the local disk, and may therefore trap dust particles by pressure drag. Although GI can produce NIR spiral arms with morphologies, contrasts, and pitch angles similar to those reported in recent observations, it also makes other demands that may or may not be satisfied in any given system. A GI origin requires that the spirals be relatively compact, on scales <~100 AU; that the disk be massive, q>~0.25; and that the accretion rate Mdot be high, on the order of 1e-6 solar mass per year.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2015

Eccentric Jupiters via Disk-Planet Interactions

Numerical hydrodynamics calculations are performed to determine conditions under which giant planet eccentricities can be excited by parent gas disks. Unlike in other studies, Jupiter-mass planets are found to have their eccentricities amplified --- provided their orbits start eccentric. We disentangle the web of co-rotation, co-orbital, and external resonances to show that this finite-amplitude instability is consistent with that predicted analytically. Ellipticities can grow until they reach of order the disk's aspect ratio, beyond which the external Lindblad resonances that excite eccentricity are weakened by the planet's increasingly supersonic epicyclic motion. Forcing the planet to still larger eccentricities causes catastrophic eccentricity damping as the planet collides into gap walls. For standard parameters, the range of eccentricities for instability is modest; the threshold eccentricity for growth ($\sim$$0.04$) is not much smaller than the final eccentricity to which orbits grow ($\sim$$0.07$). If this threshold eccentricity can be lowered (perhaps by non-barotropic effects), and if the eccentricity driving documented here survives in 3D, it may robustly explain the low-to-moderate eccentricities $\lesssim 0.1$ exhibited by many giant planets (including Jupiter and Saturn), especially those without planetary or stellar companions.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2015

To Cool is to Accrete: Analytic Scalings for Nebular Accretion of Planetary Atmospheres

Planets acquire atmospheres from their parent circumstellar disks. We derive a general analytic expression for how the atmospheric mass grows with time $t$, as a function of the underlying core mass $M_{\rm core}$ and nebular conditions, including the gas metallicity $Z$. Planets accrete as much gas as can cool: an atmosphere's doubling time is given by its Kelvin-Helmholtz time. Dusty atmospheres behave differently from atmospheres made dust-free by grain growth and sedimentation. The gas-to-core mass ratio (GCR) of a dusty atmosphere scales as GCR $\propto t^{0.4} M_{\rm core}^{1.7} Z^{-0.4} μ_{\rm rcb}^{3.4}$, where $μ_{\rm rcb} \propto 1/(1-Z)$ (for $Z$ not too close to 1) is the mean molecular weight at the innermost radiative-convective boundary. This scaling applies across all orbital distances and nebular conditions for dusty atmospheres; their radiative-convective boundaries, which regulate cooling, are not set by the external environment, but rather by the internal microphysics of dust sublimation, H$_2$ dissociation, and the formation of H$^-$. By contrast, dust-free atmospheres have their radiative boundaries at temperatures $T_{\rm rcb}$ close to nebular temperatures $T_{\rm out}$, and grow faster at larger orbital distances where cooler temperatures, and by extension lower opacities, prevail. At 0.1 AU in a gas-poor nebula, GCR $\propto t^{0.4} T_{\rm rcb}^{-1.9} M_{\rm core}^{1.6} Z^{-0.4} μ_{\rm rcb}^{3.3}$, while beyond 1 AU in a gas-rich nebula, GCR $\propto t^{0.4} T_{\rm rcb}^{-1.5} M_{\rm core}^1 Z^{-0.4}μ_{\rm rcb}^{2.2}$. We confirm our analytic scalings against detailed numerical models for objects ranging in mass from Mars (0.1 $M_\oplus$) to the most extreme super-Earths (10-20 $M_\oplus$), and explain why heating from planetesimal accretion cannot prevent the latter from undergoing runaway gas accretion.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2015

$β$ Pictoris' inner disk in polarized light and new orbital parameters for $β$ Pictoris b

We present $H$-band observations of $β$ Pic with the Gemini Planet Imager's (GPI's) polarimetry mode that reveal the debris disk between ~0.3" (~6 AU) and ~1.7" (~33 AU), while simultaneously detecting $β$ Pic $b$. The polarized disk image was fit with a dust density model combined with a Henyey-Greenstein scattering phase function. The best fit model indicates a disk inclined to the line of sight ($ϕ=85.27°^{+0.26}_{-0.19}$) with a position angle $θ_{PA}=30.35°^{+0.29}_{-0.28}$ (slightly offset from the main outer disk, $θ_{PA}\approx29°$), that extends from an inner disk radius of $23.6^{+0.9}_{-0.6}$ AU to well outside GPI's field of view. In addition, we present an updated orbit for $β$ Pic $b$ based on new astrometric measurements taken in GPI's spectroscopic mode spanning 14 months. The planet has a semi-major axis of $a=9.2^{+1.5}_{-0.4}$AU, with an eccentricity $e\leq 0.26$. The position angle of the ascending node is $Ω=31.75°\pm0.15$, offset from both the outer main disk and the inner disk seen in the GPI image. The orbital fit constrains the stellar mass of $β$ Pic to $1.60\pm0.05 M_{\odot}$. Dynamical sculpting by $β$ Pic $b$ cannot easily account for the following three aspects of the inferred disk properties: 1) the modeled inner radius of the disk is farther out than expected if caused by $β$ Pic b; 2) the mutual inclination of the inner disk and $β$ Pic $b$ is $4°$, when it is expected to be closer to zero; and 3) the aspect ratio of the disk ($h_0 = 0.137^{+0.005}_{-0.006}$) is larger than expected from interactions with $β$ Pic $b$ or self-stirring by the disk's parent bodies.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2015

Gemini Planet Imager Observations of the AU Microscopii Debris Disk: Asymmetries within One Arcsecond

We present Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) observations of AU Microscopii, a young M dwarf with an edge-on, dusty debris disk. Integral field spectroscopy and broadband imaging polarimetry were obtained during the commissioning of GPI. In our broadband imaging polarimetry observations, we detect the disk only in total intensity and find asymmetries in the morphology of the disk between the southeast and northwest sides. The southeast side of the disk exhibits a bump at 1$''$ (10 AU projected separation) that is three times more vertically extended and three times fainter in peak surface brightness than the northwest side at similar separations. This part of the disk is also vertically offset by 69$\pm$30 mas to the northeast at 1$''$ when compared to the established disk mid-plane and consistent with prior ALMA and Hubble Space Telescope/STIS observations. We see hints that the southeast bump might be a result of detecting a horizontal sliver feature above the main disk that could be the disk backside. Alternatively when including the morphology of the northwest side, where the disk mid-plane is offset in the opposite direction $\sim$50 mas between 0$.''$4 and 1$.''$2, the asymmetries suggest a warp-like feature. Using our integral field spectroscopy data to search for planets, we are 50% complete for $\sim$4 $M_\mathrm{Jup}$ planets at 4 AU. We detect a source, resolved only along the disk plane, that could either be a candidate planetary mass companion or a compact clump in the disk.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2015

A Metallicity Recipe for Rocky Planets

Planets with sizes between those of Earth and Neptune divide into two populations: purely rocky bodies whose atmospheres contribute negligibly to their sizes, and larger gas-enveloped planets possessing voluminous and optically thick atmospheres. We show that whether a planet forms rocky or gas-enveloped depends on the solid surface density of its parent disk. Assembly times for rocky cores are sensitive to disk solid surface density. Lower surface densities spawn smaller planetary embryos; to assemble a core of given mass, smaller embryos require more mergers between bodies farther apart and therefore exponentially longer formation times. Gas accretion simulations yield a rule of thumb that a rocky core must be at least 2$M_\oplus$ before it can acquire a volumetrically significant atmosphere from its parent nebula. In disks of low solid surface density, cores of such mass appear only after the gas disk has dissipated, and so remain purely rocky. Higher surface density disks breed massive cores more quickly, within the gas disk lifetime, and so produce gas-enveloped planets. We test model predictions against observations, using planet radius as an observational proxy for gas-to-rock content and host star metallicity as a proxy for disk solid surface density. Theory can explain the observation that metal-rich stars host predominantly gas-enveloped planets.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2014

Make Super-Earths, Not Jupiters: Accreting Nebular Gas onto Solid Cores at 0.1 AU and Beyond

Close-in super-Earths having radii 1--4 $R_\oplus$ may possess hydrogen atmospheres comprising a few percent by mass of their rocky cores. We determine the conditions under which such atmospheres can be accreted by cores from their parent circumstellar disks. Accretion from the nebula is problematic because it is too efficient: we find that 10-$M_\oplus$ cores embedded in solar metallicity disks tend to undergo runaway gas accretion and explode into Jupiters, irrespective of orbital location. The threat of runaway is especially dire at $\sim$0.1 AU, where solids may coagulate on timescales orders of magnitude shorter than gas clearing times; thus nascent atmospheres on close-in orbits are unlikely to be supported against collapse by planetesimal accretion. The time to runaway accretion is well approximated by the cooling time of the atmosphere's innermost convective zone, whose extent is controlled by where H$_2$ dissociates. Insofar as the temperatures characterizing H$_2$ dissociation are universal, timescales for core instability tend not to vary with orbital distance --- and to be alarmingly short for 10-$M_\oplus$ cores. Nevertheless, in the thicket of parameter space, we identify two scenarios, not mutually exclusive, that can reproduce the preponderance of percent-by-mass atmospheres for super-Earths at $\sim$0.1 AU, while still ensuring the formation of Jupiters at $\gtrsim 1$ AU. Scenario (a): planets form in disks with dust-to-gas ratios that range from $\sim$20$\times$ solar at 0.1 AU to $\sim$2$\times$ solar at 5 AU. Scenario (b): the final assembly of super-Earth cores from mergers of proto-cores --- a process that completes quickly at $\sim$0.1 AU once begun --- is delayed by gas dynamical friction until just before disk gas dissipates completely.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2014

Fast Modes and Dusty Horseshoes in Transitional Disks

The brightest transitional protoplanetary disks are often azimuthally asymmetric: their mm-wave thermal emission peaks strongly on one side. Dust overdensities can exceed $\sim$100:1, while gas densities vary by factors less than a few. We propose that these remarkable ALMA observations---which may bear on how planetesimals form---reflect a gravitational global mode in the gas disk. The mode is (1) fast---its pattern speed equals the disk's mean Keplerian frequency; (2) of azimuthal wavenumber $m=1$, displacing the host star from the barycenter; and (3) Toomre-stable. We solve for gas streamlines including the indirect stellar potential in the frame rotating with the pattern speed, under the drastic simplification that gas does not feel its own gravity. Near co-rotation, the gas disk takes the form of a horseshoe-shaped annulus. Dust particles with aerodynamic stopping times much shorter or much longer than the orbital period are dragged by gas toward the horseshoe center. For intermediate stopping times, dust converges toward a $\sim$45$^\circ$-wide arc on the co-rotation circle. Particles that do not reach their final accumulation points within disk lifetimes, either because of gas turbulence or long particle drift times, conform to horseshoe-shaped gas streamlines. Our mode is not self-consistent because we neglect gas self-gravity; still, we expect that trends between accumulation location and particle size, similar to those we have found, are generically predicted by fast modes and are potentially observable. Unlike vortices, global modes are not restricted in radial width to the pressure scale height; their large radial and azimuthal extents may better match observations.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2014

A Class of Warm Jupiters with Mutually Inclined, Apsidally Misaligned, Close Friends

The orbits of giant extrasolar planets often have surprisingly small semi-major axes, large eccentricities, or severe misalignments between their normals and their host stars' spin axes. In some formation scenarios invoking Kozai-Lidov oscillations, an external planetary companion drives a planet onto an orbit having these properties. The mutual inclinations for Kozai-Lidov oscillations can be large and have not been confirmed observationally. Here we deduce that observed eccentric warm Jupiters with eccentric giant companions have mutual inclinations that oscillate between 35-65 deg. Our inference is based on the pairs' observed apsidal separations, which cluster near 90 deg. The near-orthogonality of periapse directions is effected by the outer companion's quadrupolar and octupolar potentials. These systems may be undergoing a stalled version of tidal migration that produces warm Jupiters over hot Jupiters, and provide evidence for a population of multi-planet systems that are not flat and have been sculpted by Kozai-Lidov oscillations.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2014

Gravito-Turbulent Disks in 3D: Turbulent Velocities vs. Depth

Characterizing turbulence in protoplanetary disks is crucial for understanding how they accrete and spawn planets. Recent measurements of spectral line broadening promise to diagnose turbulence, with different lines probing different depths. We use 3D local hydrodynamic simulations of cooling, self-gravitating disks to resolve how motions driven by "gravito-turbulence" vary with height. We find that gravito-turbulence is practically as vigorous at altitude as at depth: even though gas at altitude is much too rarefied to be itself self-gravitating, it is strongly forced by self-gravitating overdensities at the midplane. The long-range nature of gravity means that turbulent velocities are nearly uniform vertically, increasing by just a factor of 2 from midplane to surface, even as the density ranges over nearly three orders of magnitude. The insensitivity of gravito-turbulence to height contrasts with the behavior of disks afflicted by the magnetorotational instability (MRI); in the latter case, non-circular velocities increase by at least a factor of 15 from midplane to surface, with various non-ideal effects only magnifying this factor. The distinct vertical profiles of gravito-turbulence vs. MRI turbulence may be used in conjunction with measurements of non-thermal linewidths at various depths to identify the source of transport in protoplanetary disks.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2014

Multiwavelength Observations of the Candidate Disintegrating sub-Mercury KIC 12557548b

We present multiwavelength photometry, high angular resolution imaging, and radial velocities, of the unique and confounding disintegrating low-mass planet candidate KIC 12557548b. Our high angular resolution imaging, which includes spacebased HST/WFC3 observations in the optical, and groundbased Keck/NIRC2 observations in K'-band, allow us to rule-out background and foreground candidates at angular separations greater than 0.2 arcsec that are bright enough to be responsible for the transits we associate with KIC 12557548. Our radial velocity limit from Keck/HIRES allows us to rule-out bound, low-mass stellar companions to KIC 12557548 on orbits less than 10 years, as well as placing an upper-limit on the mass of the candidate planet of 1.2 Jupiter masses; therefore, the combination of our radial velocities, high angular-resolution imaging, and photometry are able to rule-out most false positive interpretations of the transits. Our precise multiwavelength photometry includes two simultaneous detections of the transit of KIC 12557548b using CFHT/WIRCam at 2.15 microns and the Kepler space telescope at 0.6 microns, as well as simultaneous null-detections of the transit by Kepler and HST/WFC3 at 1.4 microns. Our simultaneous HST/WFC3 and Kepler null-detections, provide no evidence for radically different transit depths at these wavelengths. Our simultaneous CFHT/WIRCam detections in the near-infrared and with Kepler in the optical reveal very similar transit depths (the average ratio of the transit depths at ~2.15 microns compared to ~0.6 microns is: 1.02 +/- 0.20). This suggests that if the transits we observe are due to scattering from single-size particles streaming from the planet in a comet-like tail, then the particles must be ~0.5 microns in radius or larger, which would favor that KIC 12557548b is a sub-Mercury, rather than super-Mercury, mass planet.

astro-ph.EP↗