arXiv subjects

Heather A. Knutson

Publications and source records attributed to Heather A. Knutson.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

An Improved Transit Measurement for a 2.4 R_{Earth} Planet Orbiting A Bright Mid-M Dwarf K2$-$28

We present a new {\em Spitzer} transit observation of K2$-$28b, a sub-Neptune ($R_{\rm p} = 2.45\pm0.28 R_{Earth}$) orbiting a relatively bright ($V_{\rm mag} = 16.06$, $K_{\rm mag} = 10.75$) metal-rich M4 dwarf (EPIC 206318379). This star is one of only seven with masses less than 0.2 M_{Sun} known to host transiting planets, and the planet appears to be a slightly smaller analogue of GJ 1214b ($2.85\pm0.20 R_{Earth}$; \citealt{2013A&A...549A..10H}). Our new {\em Spitzer} observations were taken two years after the original K2 discovery data and have a significantly higher cadence, allowing us to derive improved estimates for this planet's radius, semi-major axis, and orbital period, which greatly reduce the uncertainty in the prediction of near future transit times for the {\em James Webb Space Telescope} ({\em JWST}) observations. We also evaluate the system's suitability for atmospheric characterization with {\em JWST} and find that it is currently the only small (< 3 R_{Earth}) and cool ($< 600$ K) planet aside from GJ 1214b with a potentially detectable secondary eclipse. We also note that this system is a favorable target for near-infrared radial velocity instruments on larger telescopes (e.g., the Habitable Planet Finder on the Hobby-Eberly Telescope), making it one of only a handful of small, cool planets accessible with this technique. Finally, we compare our results with the simulated catalog of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite ({\em TESS}) and find K2$-$28b to be representative of the kind of mid-M systems that should be detectible in the {\em TESS} sample.

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arXiv2018

Detection of a Westward Hotspot Offset in the Atmosphere of a Hot Gas Giant CoRoT-2b

Short-period planets exhibit day-night temperature contrasts of hundreds to thousands of degrees K. They also exhibit eastward hotspot offsets whereby the hottest region on the planet is east of the substellar point; this has been widely interpreted as advection of heat due to eastward winds. We present thermal phase observations of the hot Jupiter CoRoT-2b obtained with the IRAC instrument on the Spitzer Space Telescope. These measurements show the most robust detection to date of a westward hotspot offset of 23 $\pm$ 4 degrees, in contrast with the nine other planets with equivalent measurements. The peculiar infrared flux map of CoRoT-2b may result from westward winds due to non-synchronous rotation magnetic effects, or partial cloud coverage, that obscures the emergent flux from the planet's eastern hemisphere. Non-synchronous rotation and magnetic effects may also explain the planet's anomalously large radius. On the other hand, partial cloud coverage could explain the featureless dayside emission spectrum of the planet. If CoRoT-2b is not tidally locked, then it means that our understanding of star-planet tidal interaction is incomplete. If the westward offset is due to magnetic effects, our result represents an opportunity to study an exoplanet's magnetic field. If it has Eastern clouds, then it means that our understanding of large-scale circulation on tidally locked planets is incomplete.

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arXiv2017

Phase curves of WASP-33b and HD 149026b and a New Correlation Between Phase Curve Offset and Irradiation Temperature

We present new 3.6 and 4.5 $μm$ Spitzer phase curves for the highly irradiated hot Jupiter WASP-33b and the unusually dense Saturn-mass planet HD 149026b. As part of this analysis, we develop a new variant of pixel level decorrelation that is effective at removing intrapixel sensitivity variations for long observations (>10 hours) where the position of the star can vary by a significant fraction of a pixel. Using this algorithm, we measure eclipse depths, phase amplitudes, and phase offsets for both planets at 3.6 $μm$ and 4.5 $μm$. We use a simple toy model to show that WASP-33b's phase offset, albedo, and heat recirculation efficiency are largely similar to those of other hot Jupiters despite its very high irradiation. On the other hand, our fits for HD 149026b prefer a very high albedo and an unusually high recirculation efficiency. We also compare our results to predictions from general circulation models, and find that while neither are a good match to the data, the discrepancies for HD 149026b are especially large. We speculate that this may be related to its high bulk metallicity, which could lead to enhanced atmospheric opacities and the formation of reflective cloud layers in localized regions of the atmosphere. We then place these two planets in a broader context by exploring relationships between the temperatures, albedos, heat transport efficiencies, and phase offsets of all planets with published thermal phase curves. We find a striking relationship between phase offset and irradiation temperature--the former drops with increasing temperature until around 3400 K, and rises thereafter. Although some aspects of this trend are mirrored in the circulation models, there are notable differences that provide important clues for future modeling efforts.

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arXiv2017

Constraints on the Spin Evolution of Young Planetary-Mass Companions

Surveys of young star-forming regions have discovered a growing population of planetary-mass (<13 M_Jup) companions around young stars. There is an ongoing debate as to whether these companions formed like planets (that is, from the circumstellar disk), or if they represent the low-mass tail of the star formation process. In this study we utilize high-resolution spectroscopy to measure rotation rates of three young (2-300 Myr) planetary-mass companions and combine these measurements with published rotation rates for two additional companions to provide a look at the spin distribution of these objects. We compare this distribution to complementary rotation rate measurements for six brown dwarfs with masses <20 M_Jup, and show that these distributions are indistinguishable. This suggests that either that these two populations formed via the same mechanism, or that processes regulating rotation rates are independent of formation mechanism. We find that rotation rates for both populations are well below their break-up velocities and do not evolve significantly during the first few hundred million years after the end of accretion. This suggests that rotation rates are set during late stages of accretion, possibly by interactions with a circumplanetary disk. This result has important implications for our understanding of the processes regulating the angular momentum evolution of young planetary-mass objects, and of the physics of gas accretion and disk coupling in the planetary-mass regime.

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arXiv2017

The Complete transmission spectrum of WASP-39b with a precise water constraint

WASP-39b is a hot Saturn-mass exoplanet with a predicted clear atmosphere based on observations in the optical and infrared. Here we complete the transmission spectrum of the atmosphere with observations in the near-infrared (NIR) over three water absorption features with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) G102 (0.8-1.1 microns) and G141 (1.1-1.7 microns) spectroscopic grisms. We measure the predicted high amplitude H2O feature centered at 1.4 microns, and the smaller amplitude features at 0.95 and 1.2 microns, with a maximum water absorption amplitude of 2.4 planetary scale heights. We incorporate these new NIR measurements into previously published observational measurements to complete the transmission spectrum from 0.3-5 microns. From these observed water features, combined with features in the optical and IR, we retrieve a well constrained temperature Teq = 1030(+30,-20) K, and atmospheric metallicity 151 (+48,-46)x solar which is relatively high with respect to the currently established mass-metallicity trends. This new measurement in the Saturn-mass range hints at further diversity in the planet formation process relative to our solar system giants.

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arXiv2017

Evidence for Atmospheric Cold-trap Processes in the Noninverted Emission Spectrum of Kepler-13Ab Using HST/WFC3

We observed two eclipses of the Kepler-13A planetary system, on UT 2014 April 28 and UT 2014 October 13, in the near-infrared using Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope. By using the nearby binary stars Kepler-13BC as a reference, we were able to create a differential light curve for Kepler-13A that had little of the systematics typically present in HST/WFC3 spectrophotometry. We measure a broadband (1.1$μ$m to 1.65$μ$m) eclipse depth of $734\pm28$ ppm, and are able to measure the emission spectrum of the planet at $R\approx50$ with an average precision of 70 ppm. We find that Kepler-13Ab possesses a noninverted, monotonically decreasing vertical temperature profile. We exclude an isothermal profile and an inverted profile at more than 3$σ$. We also find that the dayside emission of Kepler-13Ab appears generally similar to an isolated M7 brown dwarf at a similar effective temperature. Due to the relatively high mass and surface gravity of Kepler-13Ab, we suggest that the apparent lack of an inversion is due to cold-trap processes in the planet's atmosphere. Using a toy model for where cold-traps should inhibit inversions, and observations of other planets in this temperature range with measured emission spectra, we argue that with more detailed modeling and more observations we may be able to place useful constraints on the size of condensates on the daysides of hot Jupiters.

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arXiv2017

The Very Low Albedo of WASP-12b From Spectral Eclipse Observations with $\textit{Hubble}$

We present an optical eclipse observation of the hot Jupiter WASP-12b using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on board the Hubble Space Telescope. These spectra allow us to place an upper limit of $A_g < 0.064$ (97.5% confidence level) on the planet's white light geometric albedo across 290--570 nm. Using six wavelength bins across the same wavelength range also produces stringent limits on the geometric albedo for all bins. However, our uncertainties in eclipse depth are $\sim$40% greater than the Poisson limit and may be limited by the intrinsic variability of the Sun-like host star --- the solar luminosity is known to vary at the $10^{-4}$ level on a timescale of minutes. We use our eclipse depth limits to test two previously suggested atmospheric models for this planet: Mie scattering from an aluminum-oxide haze or cloud-free Rayleigh scattering. Our stringent nondetection rules out both models and is consistent with thermal emission plus weak Rayleigh scattering from atomic hydrogen and helium. Our results are in stark contrast with those for the much cooler HD 189733b, the only other hot Jupiter with spectrally resolved reflected light observations; those data showed an increase in albedo with decreasing wavelength. The fact that the first two exoplanets with optical albedo spectra exhibit significant differences demonstrates the importance of spectrally resolved reflected light observations and highlights the great diversity among hot Jupiters.

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arXiv2017

Three's Company: An additional non-transiting super-Earth in the bright HD 3167 system, and masses for all three planets

HD 3167 is a bright (V = 8.9), nearby K0 star observed by the NASA K2 mission (EPIC 220383386), hosting two small, short-period transiting planets. Here we present the results of a multi-site, multi-instrument radial velocity campaign to characterize the HD 3167 system. The masses of the transiting planets are 5.02+/-0.38 MEarth for HD 3167 b, a hot super-Earth with a likely rocky composition (rho_b = 5.60+2.15-1.43 g/cm^3), and 9.80+1.30-1.24 MEarth for HD 3167 c, a warm sub-Neptune with a likely substantial volatile complement (rho_c = 1.97+0.94-0.59 g/cm^3). We explore the possibility of atmospheric composition analysis and determine that planet c is amenable to transmission spectroscopy measurements, and planet b is a potential thermal emission target. We detect a third, non-transiting planet, HD 3167 d, with a period of 8.509+/-0.045 d (between planets b and c) and a minimum mass of 6.90+/-0.71 MEarth. We are able to constrain the mutual inclination of planet d with planets b and c: we rule out mutual inclinations below 1.3 degrees as we do not observe transits of planet d. From 1.3-40 degrees, there are viewing geometries invoking special nodal configurations which result in planet d not transiting some fraction of the time. From 40-60 degrees, Kozai-Lidov oscillations increase the system's instability, but it can remain stable for up to 100Myr. Above 60 degrees, the system is unstable. HD 3167 promises to be a fruitful system for further study and a preview of the many exciting systems expected from the upcoming NASA TESS mission.

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arXiv2017

K2-66b and K2-106b: Two extremely hot sub-Neptune-size planets with high densities

We report precise mass and density measurements of two extremely hot sub-Neptune-size planets from the K2 mission using radial velocities, K2 photometry, and adaptive optics imaging. K2-66 harbors a close-in sub-Neptune-sized (2.49$^{+0.34}_{-0.24} R_\oplus$) planet (K2-66b) with a mass of 21.3 $\pm$ 3.6 $M_\oplus$. Because the star is evolving up the sub-giant branch, K2-66b receives a high level of irradiation, roughly twice the main sequence value. K2-66b may reside within the so-called "photoevaporation desert", a domain of planet size and incident flux that is almost completely devoid of planets. Its mass and radius imply that K2-66b has, at most, a meager envelope fraction (< 5%) and perhaps no envelope at all, making it one of the largest planets without a significant envelope. K2-106 hosts an ultra-short-period planet ($P$ = 13.7 hrs) that is one of the hottest sub-Neptune-size planets discovered to date. Its radius (1.82$^{+0.20}_{-0.14} R_\oplus$) and mass (9.0 $\pm$ 1.6 $M_\oplus$) are consistent with a rocky composition, as are all other small ultra-short-period planets with well-measured masses. K2-106 also hosts a larger, longer-period planet (Rp = 2.77$^{+0.37}_{-0.23} R_\oplus$, $P$ = 13.3 days) with a mass less than 24.4 $M_\oplus$ at 99.7% confidence. K2-66b and K2-106b probe planetary physics in extreme radiation environments. Their high densities reflect the challenge of retaining a substantial gas envelope in such extreme environments.

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arXiv2017

No difference in orbital parameters of RV-detected giant planets between 0.1 and 5 au in single vs multi-stellar systems

Our Keck/NIRC2 imaging survey searches for stellar companions around 144 systems with radial velocity (RV) detected giant planets to determine whether stellar binaries influence the planets' orbital parameters. This survey, the largest of its kind to date, finds eight confirmed binary systems and three confirmed triple systems. These include three new multi-stellar systems (HD 30856, HD 86081, and HD 207832) and three multi-stellar systems with newly confirmed common proper motion (HD 43691, HD 116029, and HD 164509). We combine these systems with seven RV planet-hosting multi-stellar systems from the literature in order to test for differences in the properties of planets with semimajor axes ranging between 0.1-5 au in single vs multi-stellar systems. We find no evidence that the presence or absence of stellar companions alters the distribution of planet properties in these systems. Although the observed stellar companions might influence the orbits of more distant planetary companions in these systems, our RV observations currently provide only weak constraints on the masses and orbital properties of planets beyond 5 au. In order to aid future efforts to characterize long period RV companions in these systems, we publish our contrast curves for all 144 targets. Using four years of astrometry for six hierarchical triple star systems hosting giant planets, we fit the orbits of the stellar companions in order to characterize the orbital architecture in these systems. We find that the orbital plane of the secondary and tertiary companions are inconsistent with an edge-on orbit in four out of six cases.

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arXiv2017

Characterizing K2 Candidate Planetary Systems Orbiting Low-Mass Stars II: Planetary Systems Observed During Campaigns 1-7

We recently used near-infrared spectroscopy to improve the characterization of 76 low-mass stars around which K2 had detected 79 candidate transiting planets. Thirty of these worlds were new discoveries that have not previously been published. We calculate the false positive probabilities that the transit-like signals are actually caused by non-planetary astrophysical phenomena and reject five new transit-like events and three previously reported events as false positives. We also statistically validate 18 planets (eight of which were previously unpublished), confirm the earlier validation of 21 planets, and announce 17 newly discovered planet candidates. Revising the properties of the associated planet candidates based on the updated host star characteristics and refitting the transit photometry, we find that our sample contains 20 planets or planet candidates with radii smaller than 1.25 Earth radii, 20 super-Earths (1.25-2 Earth radii), 20 small Neptunes (2-4 Earth radii), three large Neptunes (4-6 Earth radii), and eight giant planets (> 6 Earth radii). Most of these planets are highly irradiated, but EPIC 206209135.04 (K2-72e, Rp = 1.29 (-0.13/+0.14) Earth radii), EPIC 211988320.01 (Rp = 2.86 (-0.15/+0.16) Earth radii), and EPIC 212690867.01 (Rp = 2.20 (-0.18/+0.19) Earth radii) orbit within optimistic habitable zone boundaries set by the "recent Venus" inner limit and the "early Mars" outer limit. In total, our planet sample includes eight moderately-irradiated 1.5-3 Earth radius planet candidates (Fp < 20 F_Earth) orbiting brighter stars (Ks < 11) that are well-suited for atmospheric investigations with Hubble, Spitzer, and/or the James Webb Space Telescope. Five validated planets orbit relatively bright stars (Kp < 12.5) and are expected to yield radial velocity semi-amplitudes of at least 2 m/s.

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arXiv2017

Two Small Transiting Planets and a Possible Third Body Orbiting HD 106315

The masses, atmospheric makeups, spin-orbit alignments, and system architectures of extrasolar planets can be best studied when the planets orbit bright stars. We report the discovery of three bodies orbiting HD 106315, a bright (V = 8.97 mag) F5 dwarf targeted by our K2 survey for transiting exoplanets. Two small, transiting planets have radii of 2.23 (+0.30/-0.25) R_Earth and 3.95 (+0.42/-0.39) R_Earth and orbital periods of 9.55 d and 21.06 d, respectively. A radial velocity (RV) trend of 0.3 +/- 0.1 m/s/d indicates the likely presence of a third body orbiting HD 106315 with period >160 d and mass >45 M_Earth. Transits of this object would have depths of >0.1% and are definitively ruled out. Though the star has v sin i = 13.2 km/s, it exhibits short-timescale RV variability of just 6.4 m/s, and so is a good target for RV measurements of the mass and density of the inner two planets and the outer object's orbit and mass. Furthermore, the combination of RV noise and moderate v sin i makes HD 106315 a valuable laboratory for studying the spin-orbit alignment of small planets through the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect. Space-based atmospheric characterization of the two transiting planets via transit and eclipse spectroscopy should also be feasible. This discovery demonstrates again the power of K2 to find compelling exoplanets worthy of future study.

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arXiv2017

Characterizing K2 Candidate Planetary Systems Orbiting Low-Mass Stars I: Classifying Low-mass Host Stars Observed During Campaigns 1-7

We present near-infrared spectra for 144 candidate planetary systems identified during Campaigns 1-7 of the NASA K2 Mission. The goal of the survey was to characterize planets orbiting low-mass stars, but our IRTF/SpeX and Palomar/TripleSpec spectroscopic observations revealed that 49% of our targets were actually giant stars or hotter dwarfs reddened by interstellar extinction. For the 72 stars with spectra consistent with classification as cool dwarfs (spectral types K3 - M4), we refined their stellar properties by applying empirical relations based on stars with interferometric radius measurements. Although our revised temperatures are generally consistent with those reported in the Ecliptic Plane Input Catalog (EPIC), our revised stellar radii are typically 0.13 solar radii (39%) larger than the EPIC values, which were based on model isochrones that have been shown to underestimate the radii of cool dwarfs. Our improved stellar characterizations will enable more efficient prioritization of K2 targets for follow-up studies.

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arXiv2016

Mass Constraints of the WASP-47 Planetary System from Radial Velocities

We report precise radial velocity (RV) measurements of WASP-47, a G star that hosts three transiting planets in close proximity (a hot Jupiter, a super-Earth and a Neptune-sized planet) and a non-transiting planet at 1.4 AU. Through a joint analysis of previously published RVs and our own Keck-HIRES RVs, we significantly improve the planet mass and bulk density measurements. For the super-Earth WASP-47e ($P$ = 0.79 days), we measure a mass of 9.11 $\pm$ 1.17 $M_\oplus$, and a bulk density of 7.63 $\pm$ 1.90 g cm$^{-3}$, consistent with a rocky composition. For the hot Jupiter WASP-47b ($P$ = 4.2 days), we measure a mass of 356 $\pm$ 12 $M_\oplus$ (1.12 $\pm$ 0.04 $M_\rm{Jup}$) and constrain its eccentricity to $<0.021$ at 3-$σ$ confidence. For the Neptune-size planet WASP-47d ($P$ = 9.0 days), we measure a mass of 12.75 $\pm$ 2.70 $M_\oplus$, and a bulk density of 1.36 $\pm$ 0.42 g cm$^{-3}$, suggesting it has a thick H/He envelope. For the outer non-transiting planet, we measure a minimum mass of 411 $\pm$ 18 $M_\oplus$ (1.29 $\pm$ 0.06 $M_\rm{Jup}$), an orbital period of 595.7 $\pm$ 5.0 days, and an orbital eccentricity of 0.27 $\pm$ 0.04. Our new measurements are consistent with but 2$-$4$\times$ more precise than previous mass measurements.

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arXiv2016

HST hot-Jupiter transmission spectral survey: Clear skies for cool Saturn WASP-39b

We present HST STIS optical transmission spectroscopy of the cool Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b from 0.29-1.025 micron, along with complementary transit observations from Spitzer IRAC at 3.6 and 4.5 micron. The low density and large atmospheric pressure scale height ofWASP-39b make it particularly amenable to atmospheric characterization using this technique. We detect a Rayleigh scattering slope as well as sodium and potassium absorption features; this is the first exoplanet in which both alkali features are clearly detected with the extended wings predicted by cloud-free atmosphere models. The full transmission spectrum is well matched by a clear, H2-dominated atmosphere or one containing a weak contribution from haze, in good agreement with the preliminary reduction of these data presented in Sing et al. (2016). WASP-39b is predicted to have a pressure-temperature profile comparable to that of HD 189733b and WASP-6b, making it one of the coolest transiting gas giants observed in our HST STIS survey. Despite this similarity, WASP-39b appears to be largely cloud-free while the transmission spectra of HD 189733b and WASP-6b both indicate the presence of high altitude clouds or hazes. These observations further emphasize the surprising diversity of cloudy and cloud-free gas giant planets in short-period orbits and the corresponding challenges associated with developing predictive cloud models for these atmospheres.

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arXiv2016

197 Candidates and 104 Validated Planets in K2's First Five Fields

We present 197 planet candidates discovered using data from the first year of the NASA K2 mission (Campaigns 0-4), along with the results of an intensive program of photometric analyses, stellar spectroscopy, high-resolution imaging, and statistical validation. We distill these candidates into sets of 104 validated planets (57 in multi-planet systems), 30 false positives, and 63 remaining candidates. Our validated systems span a range of properties, with median values of R_P = 2.3 R_E, P=8.6 d, Tef = 5300 K, and Kp=12.7 mag. Stellar spectroscopy provides precise stellar and planetary parameters for most of these systems. We show that K2 has increased by 30% the number of small planets known to orbit moderately bright stars (1-4 R_E, Kp=9-13 mag). Of particular interest are 37 planets smaller than 2 R_E, 15 orbiting stars brighter than Kp=11.5, five receiving Earth-like irradiation levels, and several multi-planet systems -- including four planets orbiting the M dwarf K2-72 near mean-motion resonances. By quantifying the likelihood that each candidate is a planet we demonstrate that our candidate sample has an overall false positive rate of 15-30%, with rates substantially lower for small candidates (< 2 R_E) and larger for candidates with radii > 8 R_E and/or with P < 3 d. Extrapolation of the current planetary yield suggests that K2 will discover between 500-1000 planets in its planned four-year mission -- assuming sufficient follow-up resources are available. Efficient observing and analysis, together with an organized and coherent follow-up strategy, is essential to maximize the efficacy of planet-validation efforts for K2, TESS, and future large-scale surveys.

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arXiv2016

Friends of Hot Jupiters. IV. Stellar companions beyond 50 AU might facilitate giant planet formation, but most are unlikely to cause Kozai-Lidov migration

Stellar companions can influence the formation and evolution of planetary systems, but there are currently few observational constraints on the properties of planet-hosting binary star systems. We search for stellar companions around 77 transiting hot Jupiter systems to explore the statistical properties of this population of companions as compared to field stars of similar spectral type. After correcting for survey incompleteness, we find that $47\%\pm7\%$ of hot Jupiter systems have stellar companions with semi-major axes between 50-2000 AU. This is 2.9 times larger than the field star companion fraction in this separation range, with a significance of $4.4σ$. In the 1-50AU range, only $3.9^{+4.5}_{-2.0}\%$ of hot Jupiters host stellar companions compared to the field star value of $16.4\%\pm0.7\%$, which is a $2.7σ$ difference. We find that the distribution of mass ratios for stellar companions to hot Jupiter systems peaks at small values and therefore differs from that of field star binaries which tend to be uniformly distributed across all mass ratios. We conclude that either wide separation stellar binaries are more favorable sites for gas giant planet formation at all separations, or that the presence of stellar companions preferentially causes the inward migration of gas giant planets that formed farther out in the disk via dynamical processes such as Kozai-Lidov oscillations. We determine that less than 20% of hot Jupiters have stellar companions capable of inducing Kozai-Lidov oscillations assuming initial semi-major axes between 1-5 AU, implying that the enhanced companion occurrence is likely correlated with environments where gas giants can form efficiently.

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arXiv2016

Eleven Multi-planet Systems from K2 Campaigns 1 & 2 and the Masses of Two Hot Super-Earths

We present a catalog of 11 multi-planet systems from Campaigns 1 and 2 of the K2 mission. We report the sizes and orbits of 26 planets split between seven 2-planet systems and four 3-planet systems. These planets stem from a systematic search of the K2 photometry for all dwarf stars observed by K2 in these fields. We precisely characterized the host stars with adaptive optics imaging and analysis of high-resolution optical spectra from Keck/HIRES and medium-resolution spectra from IRTF/SpeX. We confirm two planet candidates by mass detection and validate the remaining 24 candidates to $>99\%$ confidence. Thirteen planets were previously validated or confirmed by other studies and 24 were previously identified as planet candidates. The planets are mostly smaller than Neptune (21/26 planets) as in the Kepler mission and all have short periods ($P < 50$ d) due to the duration of the K2 photometry. The host stars are relatively bright (most have $Kp < 12.5$ mag) and are amenable to follow-up characterization. For K2-38, we measured precise radial velocities using Keck/HIRES and provide initial estimates of the planet masses. K2-38b is a short-period super-Earth with a radius of $1.55 \pm 0.16~R_\oplus$, a mass of $12.0 \pm 2.9~M_\oplus$, and a high density consistent with an iron-rich composition. The outer planet K2-38c is a lower density sub-Neptune-size planet with a radius of $2.42 \pm 0.29~R_\oplus$ and a mass of $9.9 \pm 4.6~M_\oplus$ that likely has a substantial envelope. This new planet sample demonstrates the capability of K2 to discover numerous planetary systems around bright stars.

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