K2 Planet Research Articles

Ephemeris Matching Reveals False Positive Validated and Candidate Planets from the K2 Mission

Data from the Kepler space telescope have led to the discovery of thousands of planet candidates. Most of these candidates are likely to be real exoplanets, but a significant number of false positives still contaminate the sample, especially in candidate lists from the K2 mission. Identifying and rejecting the false positives lurking in the planet candidates sample is important for prioritizing follow-up resources and measuring the most accurate population statistics. Here, we identify false positives in the K2 planet candidate sample using a technique called “ephemeris matching,” in which we compare the period and transit time of different signals. When signals from different stars show the same period and time of transit, we can conclude that at least one of the two signals is contamination. We identify 43 false positives among published K2 planet candidates (nearly 2% of the complete list), one of which (K2-256 b) was previously validated as genuine exoplanet. This work increases the reliability of the K2 planet sample and helps boost confidence in the surviving planet candidates.

Exoplanet atmosphere evolution: emulation with neural networks

ABSTRACT Atmospheric mass-loss is known to play a leading role in sculpting the demographics of small, close-in exoplanets. Knowledge of how such planets evolve allows one to ‘rewind the clock’ to infer the conditions in which they formed. Here, we explore the relationship between a planet’s core mass and its atmospheric mass after protoplanetary disc dispersal by exploiting XUV photoevaporation as an evolutionary process. Historically, this inference problem would be computationally infeasible due to the large number of planet models required; however, we use a novel atmospheric evolution emulator which utilizes neural networks to provide three orders of magnitude in speedup. First, we provide a proof of concept for this emulator on a real problem by inferring the initial atmospheric conditions of the TOI-270 multi-planet system. Using the emulator, we find near-indistinguishable results when compared to the original model. We then apply the emulator to the more complex inference problem, which aims to find the initial conditions for a sample of Kepler, K2, and TESS planets with well-constrained masses and radii. We demonstrate that there is a relationship between core masses and the atmospheric mass they retain after disc dispersal. This trend is consistent with the ‘boil-off’ scenario, in which close-in planets undergo dramatic atmospheric escape during disc dispersal. Thus, it appears that the exoplanet population is consistent with the idea that close-in exoplanets initially acquired large massive atmospheres, the majority of which is lost during disc dispersal, before the final population is sculpted by atmospheric loss over 100 Myr to Gyr time-scales.

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

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.

Follow-Up and Validation of K2 and TESS Planetary Systems With Keck NIRC2 Adaptive Optics Imaging

High resolution imaging (HRI) is a critical part of the transiting exoplanet follow-up and validation process. HRI allows previously unresolved stellar companions and background blends to be resolved, vetting false positive signals and improving the radii measurements of true planets. Through a multi-semester Keck NIRC2 adaptive optics imaging program, we have pursued HRI of K2 and TESS candidate planet host systems to provide the transiting exoplanet community with necessary data for system validation and characterization. Here we present a summary of our ongoing program that includes an up to date list of targets observed, a description of the observations and data reduction, and a discussion of planetary systems validated by the community using these data. This observing program has been key in NASA's K2 and TESS missions reaching their goals of identifying new exoplanets ideal for continued follow-up observations to measure their masses and investigate their atmospheres. Once processed, all observations presented here are available as calibrated images and resulting contrast curves through the Exoplanet Follow-up Observing Program (ExoFOP) website. We encourage members of the exoplanet community to use these data products in their ongoing planetary system validation and characterization efforts.

The K2 and TESS Synergy. I. Updated Ephemerides and Parameters for K2-114, K2-167, K2-237, and K2-261

Abstract Although the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) primary mission observed the northern and southern ecliptic hemispheres, generally avoiding the ecliptic, and the Kepler space telescope during the K2 mission could only observe near the ecliptic, many of the K2 fields extend far enough from the ecliptic plane that sections overlap with TESS fields. Using photometric observations from both K2 and TESS, combined with archival spectroscopic observations, we globally modeled four known planetary systems discovered by K2 that were observed in the first year of the primary TESS mission. Specifically, we provide updated ephemerides and system parameters for K2-114 b, K2-167 b, K2-237 b, and K2-261 b. These were some of the first K2 planets to be observed by TESS in the first year and include three Jovian sized planets and a sub-Neptune with orbital periods less than 12 days. In each case, the updated ephemeris significantly reduces the uncertainty in prediction of future times of transit, which is valuable for planning observations with the James Webb Space Telescope and other future facilities. The TESS extended mission is expected to observe about half of the K2 fields, providing the opportunity to perform this type of analysis on a larger number of systems.

Scaling K2. III. Comparable Planet Occurrence in the FGK Samples of Campaign 5 and Kepler

Abstract Using our K2 Campaign 5 fully automated planet-detection data set (43 planets), which has corresponding measures of completeness and reliability, we infer an underlying planet population model for the FGK dwarf sample (9257 stars). Implementing a broken power law for both the period and radius distributions, we find an overall planet occurrence of planets per star within a period range of 0.5–38 days. Making similar cuts and running a comparable analysis on the Kepler sample (2318 planets; 94,222 stars), we find an overall occurrence of 1.10 ± 0.05 planets per star. Since the Campaign 5 field is nearly 120 angular degrees away from the Kepler field, this occurrence similarity offers evidence that the Kepler sample may provide a good baseline for Galactic inferences. Furthermore, the Kepler stellar sample is metal-rich compared to the K2 Campaign 5 sample, so a finding of occurrence parity may reduce the role of metallicity in planet formation. However, a weak (1.5σ) difference, in agreement with metal-driven formation, is found when assuming the Kepler model power laws for the K2 Campaign 5 sample and optimizing only the planet occurrence factor. This weak trend indicates that further investigation of metallicity-dependent occurrence is warranted once a larger sample of uniformly vetted K2 planet candidates is made available.

Mass distribution of exoplanets considering some observation selection effects in the transit detection technique

While the radial velocity technique (RV) allows to determine only the product m·sin i of the mass m of one exoplanet by sin i (i, angle of inclination of orbital pole to the observer), when it is applied to a planet already detected while transiting its host star, the true mass m is determined, since angle i is near 90° and sin i ~ 1. Therefore, the mass distribution of transiting exoplanets discovered by photometric observations is of particular interest. However, there are some selection effects that distort the true (original) mass distribution into the observed mass distribution. We have studied the whole observed mass distribution of transiting exoplanets that were discovered from space-borne and ground-based surveys (NASA Exoplanet Archive 2019) and corrected them from some selection effects to retrieve a de-biased true mass distribution. For this, we take into account two factors: the probability of mass determination and the probability of transit configurations. The first factor is a bias introduced by a number of effects inherent to the RV method. The bias factor could be estimated by computing the fraction of transiting planets for which the mass was determined from the RV or TTV (Transit Timing Variations) methods. Photometric surveys for transit detection allow determining the planetary radii, and the bias factor was estimated for various bins of planetary sizes. The second factor is the transit probability, a geometrical factor which is precisely known for each detected transiting planet and therefore easy to account for. The mass distribution of exoplanets corrected for the first factor (de-biased) was analyzed, and it is found that this distribution can be well approximated by a power law: dN/dm ∝ m−2. When both factors of observation selection are taken into account, a flat statistically significant area (plateau) in the mass interval of 0.3–2 mJ appears on the mass distribution. The mass distributions derived from transiting planets is preliminary and can be updated after the RV follow-up of K2 planets will be more complete and the number of Kepler11https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/main/index.html confirmed planets definitive. The significances of the local minima (plateau) in the retrieved mass distribution have been estimated by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test.Our de-biased mass distribution was compared to the theoretical model of Mordasini (2018). The slopes are similar, but a plateau present in the model in the range 0.1–5 Jupiter mass is appearing in the data if one considers the probability of transit configuration and considers the lower sensitivity of transit method (with follow-up mass measurement by RV) to planets with long periods and large orbits. In fact, Mordasini (2018) included exoplanets on all orbits. The Gaia22https://sci.esa.int/web/gaia astrometric method should be able to clarify this discrepancy.Radial velocity surveys are more complete than transits for long period planets. And though the sin i effect is present, its amplitude is indeed not strongly relevant from a statistical point of view (and can actually be taken into account). However RV-database is formed by surveys with substantially different durations, sensitivities, and other sources of inhomogeneities. Some examples of regularization of RV data are shown by e.g. (Mordasini, 2018; Ananyeva et al., 2019; Tuomi et al., 2019), but it is hoped that more biases/inhomogeneities may be dealt with in the future.

Scaling K2. I. Revised Parameters for 222,088 K2 Stars and a K2 Planet Radius Valley at 1.9 R ⊕

Previous measurements of stellar properties for K2 stars in the Ecliptic Plane Input Catalog (EPIC; Huber et al. 2016) largely relied on photometry and proper motion measurements, with some added information from available spectra and parallaxes. Combining Gaia DR2 distances with spectroscopic measurements of effective temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities from the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) DR5, we computed updated stellar radii and masses for 26,838 K2 stars. For 195,250 targets without a LAMOST spectrum, we derived stellar parameters using random forest regression on photometric colors trained on the LAMOST sample. In total, we measured spectral types, effective temperatures, surface gravities, metallicities, radii, and masses for 222,088 A, F, G, K, and M-type K2 stars. With these new stellar radii, we performed a simple reanalysis of 299 confirmed and 517 candidate K2 planet radii from Campaigns 1--13, elucidating a distinct planet radius valley around 1.9 $R_{\oplus}$, a feature thus far only conclusively identified with Kepler planets, and tentatively identified with K2 planets. These updated stellar parameters are a crucial step in the process toward computing K2 planet occurrence rates.

Wōtan: Comprehensive Time-series Detrending in Python

The detection of transiting exoplanets in time-series photometry requires the removal or modeling of instrumental and stellar noise. While instrumental systematics can be reduced using methods such as pixel level decorrelation, removing stellar trends while preserving transit signals proves challenging. Due to vast archives of light curves from recent transit surveys, there is a strong need for accurate automatic detrending, without human intervention. A large variety of detrending algorithms are in active use, but their comparative performance for transit discovery is unexplored. We benchmark all commonly used detrending methods against hundreds of Kepler, K2, and TESS planets, selected to represent the most difficult cases for systems with small planet-to-star radius ratios. The full parameter range is explored for each method to determine the best choices for planet discovery. We conclude that the ideal method is a time-windowed slider with an iterative robust location estimator based on Tukey's biweight. This method recovers 99% and 94% of the shallowest Kepler and K2 planets, respectively. We include an additional analysis for young stars with extreme variability and conclude they are best treated using a spline-based method with a robust Huber estimator. All stellar detrending methods explored are available for public use in wotan, an open-source Python package on GitHub (see https://github.com/hippke/wotan).

Characterization of Low-mass K2 Planet Hosts Using Near-infrared Spectroscopy

Abstract We present moderate resolution near-infrared spectra in the H, J, and K band of M-dwarf hosts to candidate transiting exoplanets discovered by NASA’s K2 mission. We employ known empirical relationships between spectral features and physical stellar properties to measure the effective temperature, radius, metallicity, and luminosity of our sample. Out of an initial sample of 56 late-type stars in K2, we identify 35 objects as M dwarfs. For that subsample, we derive temperatures ranging from 2870 to 4187 K, radii of 0.09–0.83 R ⊙, luminosities of , and [Fe/H] metallicities between −0.49 and 0.51 dex. We then employ the stellar properties derived from spectra, in tandem with the K2 light curves, to characterize their planets. We report 33 exoplanet candidates with orbital periods ranging from 0.19 to 21.16 days, and median radii and equilibrium temperatures of 2.3 R ⊕ and 986 K, respectively. Using planet mass–radius relationships from the literature, we identify seven exoplanets as potentially rocky, although we conclude that probably none reside in the habitable zone of their parent stars.

Detection of Hundreds of New Planet Candidates and Eclipsing Binaries in K2 Campaigns 0–8

Abstract We implement a search for exoplanets in campaigns zero through eight (C0–8) of the K2 extension of the Kepler spacecraft. We apply a modified version of the QATS planet search algorithm to K2 light curves produced by the EVEREST pipeline, carrying out the C0–8 search on 1.5 × 105 target stars with magnitudes in the range of Kp = 9−15. We detect 818 transiting planet candidates, of which 374 were undiscovered by prior searches, with {64, 15, 5, 2, 1} in {2, 3, 4, 5, 6}-planet multiplanet candidate systems, respectively. Of the new planets detected, 100 orbit M dwarfs, including one that is potentially rocky and in the habitable zone. A total of 154 of our candidates reciprocally transit with our solar system: they are geometrically aligned to see at least one solar system planet transit. We find candidates that display transit timing variations and dozens of candidates on both period extremes with single transits or ultrashort periods. We point to evidence that our candidates display similar patterns in frequency and size–period relation to confirmed planets, such as tentative evidence for the radius gap. Confirmation of these planet candidates with follow-up studies will increase the number of K2 planets by up to 50%, and characterization of their host stars will improve statistical studies of planet properties. Our sample includes many planets orbiting bright stars amenable for radial velocity follow-up and future characterization with JWST. We also list the 579 eclipsing binary systems detected as part of this search.

Estimation of singly transiting K2 planet periods with Gaia parallaxes

ABSTRACT When a planet is only observed to transit once, direct measurement of its period is impossible. It is possible, however, to constrain the periods of single transiters, and this is desirable as they are likely to represent the cold and far extremes of the planet population observed by any particular survey. Improving the accuracy with which the period of single transiters can be constrained is therefore critical to enhance the long-period planet yield of surveys. Here, we combine Gaia parallaxes with stellar models and broad-band photometry to estimate the stellar densities of K2 planet host stars, then use that stellar density information to model individual planet transits and infer the posterior period distribution. We show that the densities we infer are reliable by comparing with densities derived through asteroseismology, and apply our method to 27 validation planets of known (directly measured) period, treating each transit as if it were the only one, as well as to 12 true single transiters. When we treat eccentricity as a free parameter, we achieve a fractional period uncertainty over the true single transits of $94^{+87}_{-58}{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$, and when we fix e = 0, we achieve fractional period uncertainty $15^{+30}_{-6}{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$, a roughly threefold improvement over typical period uncertainties of previous studies.

Four Small Planets Buried in K2 Systems: What Can We Learn for TESS?

Abstract The Kepler, K2, and Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) missions have provided a wealth of confirmed exoplanets, benefiting from a huge effort from the planet-hunting and follow-up community. With careful systematics mitigation, these missions provide precise photometric time series, which enable detection of transiting exoplanet signals. However, exoplanet hunting can be confounded by several factors, including instrumental noise, search biases, and host star variability. In this Letter, we discuss strategies to overcome these challenges using newly emerging techniques and tools. We demonstrate the power of new, fast open-source community tools (e.g., lightkurve, starry, celerite, exoplanet), and discuss four high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) exoplanets that showcase specific challenges present in planet detection: K2-43c, K2-168c, K2-198c, and K2-198d. These planets have been undetected in several large K2 planet searches, despite having transit signals with S/N ≥ 10. Two of the planets discussed here are new discoveries. In this work we confirm all four as true planets. Alongside these planet systems, we discuss three key challenges in finding small transiting exoplanets. The aim of this Letter is to help new researchers understand where planet detection efficiency gains can be made, and to encourage the continued use of K2 archive data. The considerations presented in this Letter are equally applicable to Kepler, K2, and TESS, and the tools discussed here are available for the community to apply to improve exoplanet discovery and fitting.

The Effects of Stellar Companions on the Observed Transiting Exoplanet Radius Distribution

Abstract Understanding the distribution and occurrence rate of small planets was a fundamental goal of the Kepler transiting exoplanet mission, and could be improved with K2 and Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Deriving accurate exoplanetary radii requires accurate measurements of the host star radii and the planetary transit depths, including accounting for any “third light” in the system due to nearby bound companions or background stars. High-resolution imaging of Kepler and K2 planet candidate hosts to detect very close (within ∼0.″5) background or bound stellar companions has been crucial for both confirming the planetary nature of candidates, and the determination of accurate planetary radii and mean densities. Here we present an investigation of the effect of close companions, both detected and undetected, on the observed (raw count) exoplanet radius distribution. We demonstrate that the recently detected “gap” in the observed radius distribution (also seen in the completeness-corrected distribution) is fairly robust to undetected stellar companions, given that all of the systems in the sample have undergone some kind of vetting with high-resolution imaging. However, while the gap in the observed sample is not erased or shifted, it is partially filled in after accounting for possible undetected stellar companions. These findings have implications for the most likely core composition, and thus formation location, of super-Earth and sub-Neptune planets. Furthermore, we show that without high-resolution imaging of planet candidate host stars, the shape of the observed exoplanet radius distribution will be incorrectly inferred, for both Kepler- and TESS-detected systems.

K2-140b and K2-180b – Characterization of a hot Jupiter and a mini-Neptune from theK2mission

We report the independent discovery and characterization of two K2 planets: K2-180b, a mini-Neptune-size planet in an 8.9-day orbit transiting a V = 12.6 mag, metal-poor ([Fe/H] =$-0.65\pm0.10$) K2V star in K2 campaign 5; K2-140b, a transiting hot Jupiter in a 6.6-day orbit around a V = 12.6 mag G6V ([Fe/H] = $+0.10\pm0.10$) star in K2 campaign 10. Our results are based on K2 time-series photometry combined with high-spatial resolution imaging and high-precision radial velocity measurements. We present the first mass measurement of K2-180b. K2-180b has a mass of $M_\mathrm{p}=11.3\pm1.9$ ${M_{\oplus}}$ and a radius of $R_\mathrm{p}=2.2\pm0.1$ ${R_{\oplus}}$ , yielding a mean density of $\rho_\mathrm{p}=5.6\pm1.9\,g\,cm^{-3}$, suggesting a rock composition. Given its radius, K2-180b is above the region of the so-called `planetary radius gap'. K2-180b is in addition not only one of the densest mini-Neptune-size planets, but also one of the few mini-Neptune-size planets known to transit a metal-poor star. We also constrain the planetary and orbital parameters of K2-140b and show that, given the currently available Doppler measurements, the eccentricity is consistent with zero, contrary to the results of a previous study.

Stellar Companions of Exoplanet Host Stars in K2

Abstract It is well established that roughly half of all nearby solar-type stars have at least one companion. Stellar companions can have significant implications for the detection and characterization of exoplanets, including triggering false positives and masking the true radii of planets. Determining the fraction of exoplanet host stars that are also binaries allows us to better determine planetary characteristics as well as establish the relationship between binarity and planet formation. Using high angular resolution speckle imaging, we detect stellar companions within ∼1 arcsec of K2 planet-candidate host stars. Comparing our detected companion rate to TRILEGAL star count simulations and known detection limits of speckle imaging, we estimate the binary fraction of K2 planet host stars to be 40%–50%, similar to that of Kepler exoplanet hosts and field stars.

275 Candidates and 149 Validated Planets Orbiting Bright Stars in K2 Campaigns 0–10

Abstract Since 2014, NASA’s K2 mission has observed large portions of the ecliptic plane in search of transiting planets and has detected hundreds of planet candidates. With observations planned until at least early 2018, K2 will continue to identify more planet candidates. We present here 275 planet candidates observed during Campaigns 0–10 of the K2 mission that are orbiting stars brighter than 13 mag (in Kepler band) and for which we have obtained high-resolution spectra (R = 44,000). These candidates are analyzed using the vespa package in order to calculate their false-positive probabilities (FPP). We find that 149 candidates are validated with an FPP lower than 0.1%, 39 of which were previously only candidates and 56 of which were previously undetected. The processes of data reduction, candidate identification, and statistical validation are described, and the demographics of the candidates and newly validated planets are explored. We show tentative evidence of a gap in the planet radius distribution of our candidate sample. Comparing our sample to the Kepler candidate sample investigated by Fulton et al., we conclude that more planets are required to quantitatively confirm the gap with K2 candidates or validated planets. This work, in addition to increasing the population of validated K2 planets by nearly 50% and providing new targets for follow-up observations, will also serve as a framework for validating candidates from upcoming K2 campaigns and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, expected to launch in 2018.

Stellar and Planetary Parameters for K2's Late-type Dwarf Systems from C1 to C5

Abstract The NASA K2 mission uses photometry to find planets transiting stars of various types. M dwarfs are of high interest since they host more short-period planets than any other type of main-sequence star and transiting planets around M dwarfs have deeper transits compared to other main-sequence stars. In this paper, we present stellar parameters from K and M dwarfs hosting transiting planet candidates discovered by our team. Using the SOFI spectrograph on the European Southern Observatory’s New Technology Telescope, we obtained R ≈ 1000 J-, H-, and K-band (0.95–2.52 μm) spectra of 34 late-type K2 planet and candidate planet host systems and 12 bright K4–M5 dwarfs with interferometrically measured radii and effective temperatures. Out of our 34 late-type K2 targets, we identify 27 of these stars as M dwarfs. We measure equivalent widths of spectral features, derive calibration relations using stars with interferometric measurements, and estimate stellar radii, effective temperatures, masses, and luminosities for the K2 planet hosts. Our calibrations provide radii and temperatures with median uncertainties of 0.059 R ⊙ (16.09%) and 160 K (4.33%), respectively. We then reassess the radii and equilibrium temperatures of known and candidate planets based on our spectroscopically derived stellar parameters. Since a planet’s radius and equilibrium temperature depend on the parameters of its host star, our study provides more precise planetary parameters for planets and candidates orbiting late-type stars observed with K2. We find a median planet radius and an equilibrium temperature of approximately 3 R ⊕ and 500 K, respectively, with several systems (K2-18b and K2-72e) receiving near-Earth-like levels of incident irradiation.