THREE WIDE PLANETARY-MASS COMPANIONS TO FW TAU, ROXs 12, AND ROXs 42B

Abstract

We report the discovery of three planetary-mass companions (M = 6--20 $M_{Jup}$) in wide orbits ($\rho \sim$ 150--300 AU) around the young stars FW Tau (Taurus-Auriga), ROXs 12 (Ophiuchus), and ROXs 42B (Ophiuchus). All three wide planetary-mass companions ("PMCs") were reported as candidate companions in previous binary survey programs, but then were neglected for $>$10 years. We therefore obtained followup observations which demonstrate that each candidate is comoving with its host star. Based on the absolute $M_{K'}$ magnitudes, we infer masses (from hot-start evolutionary models) and projected separations of 10 $\pm$ 4 $M_{Jup}$ and 330 $\pm$ 30 AU for FW Tau b, 16 $\pm$ 4 $M_{Jup}$ and 210 $\pm$ 20 AU for ROXs 12 b, and 10 $\pm$ 4 $M_{Jup}$ and 140 $\pm$ 10 AU for ROXs 42B b. We also present similar observations for ten other candidates which show that they are unassociated field stars, as well as multicolor JHK'L' near-infrared photometry for our new PMCs and for five previously-identified substellar or planetary-mass companions. The NIR photometry for our sample of eight known and new companions generally parallels the properties of free-floating low-mass brown dwarfs in these star-forming regions. However, 5 of the 7 objects with M $<$ 30 $M_{Jup}$ are redder in K'-L' than the distribution of young free-floating counterparts of similar J-K'. We speculate that this distinction could indicate a structural difference in circum-planetary disks, perhaps tied to higher disk mass since at least two of the objects in our sample are known to be accreting more vigorously than typical free-floating counterparts.