Scaling K2. V. Statistical Validation of 60 New Exoplanets From K2 Campaigns 2–18

Abstract

The NASA K2 mission, salvaged from the hardware failures of the Kepler telescope, has continued Kepler’s planet-hunting success. It has revealed nearly 500 transiting planets around the ecliptic plane, many of which are the subject of further study, and over 1000 additional candidates. Here we present the results of an ongoing project to follow-up and statistically validate new K2 planets, in particular to identify promising new targets for further characterization. By analyzing the reconnaissance spectra, high-resolution imaging, centroid variations, and statistical likelihood of the signals of 91 candidates, we validate 60 new planets in 46 systems. These include a number of planets amenable to transmission spectroscopy (K2-384 f, K2-387 b, K2-390 b, K2-403 b, and K2-398 c), emission spectroscopy (K2-371 b, K2-370 b, and K2-399 b), and both (K2-405 b and K2-406 b); several systems with planets in or close to mean motion resonances (K2-381 and K2-398) including a compact, TRAPPIST-1-like system of five small planets orbiting a mid-M dwarf (K2-384); an ultra-short-period sub-Saturn in the hot Saturn desert (K2-399 b); and a super-Earth orbiting a moderately bright (V = 11.93), metal-poor ([Fe/H] = −0.579 ± 0.080) host star (K2-408 b). In total we validate planets around four F stars, 26 G stars, 13 K stars, and three M dwarfs. In addition, we provide a list of 37 vetted planet candidates that should be prioritized for future follow-up observation in order to be confirmed or validated.