Adaptive Optics Images of Kepler Objects of Interest
Abstract
All transiting planets are at risk of contamination by blends with nearby, unresolved stars. Blends dilute the transit signal, causing the planet to appear smaller than it really is, or produce a false-positive detection when the target star is blended with eclipsing binary stars. This paper reports on high spatial-resolution adaptive optics images of 90 Kepler planetary candidates. Companion stars are detected as close as 0ˮ1 from the target star. Images were taken in the near-infrared (J and Ks bands) with ARIES on the MMT and PHARO on the Palomar Hale 200 inch telescope. Most objects (60%) have at least one star within 6" separation and a magnitude difference of 9. Eighteen objects (20%) have at least one companion within 2" of the target star; six companions (7%) are closer than 0ˮ5. Most of these companions were previously unknown, and the associated planetary candidates should receive additional scrutiny. Limits are placed on the presence of additional companions for every system observed, which can be used to validate planets statistically using the BLENDER method. Validation is particularly critical for low-mass, potentially Earth-like worlds, which are not detectable with current-generation radial velocity techniques. High-resolution images are thus a crucial component of any transit follow-up program.
Additional Information
© 2012 American Astronomical Society. Received 2012 February 28, accepted for publication 2012 May 23. Published 2012 June 29. Based on observations obtained at the MMT Observatory, a joint facility of the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Arizona.Attached Files
Published - Adams2012p19285Astron_J.pdf
Erratum - 1538-3881_146_3_71.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 33510
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20120824-111819706
- Created
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2012-08-24Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2023-06-01Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC)