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Are these planets or brown dwarfs? Broadly solar compositions from high-resolution atmospheric retrievals of ~10-30 $M_\textrm{Jup}$ companions

Authors :
Xuan, Jerry W.
Hsu, Chih-Chun
Finnerty, Luke
Wang, Jason J.
Ruffio, Jean-Baptiste
Zhang, Yapeng
Knutson, Heather A.
Mawet, Dimitri
Mamajek, Eric E.
Inglis, Julie
Wallack, Nicole L.
Bryan, Marta L.
Blake, Geoffrey A.
Mollière, Paul
Hejazi, Neda
Baker, Ashley
Bartos, Randall
Calvin, Benjamin
Cetre, Sylvain
Delorme, Jacques-Robert
Doppmann, Greg
Echeverri, Daniel
Fitzgerald, Michael P.
Jovanovic, Nemanja
Liberman, Joshua
López, Ronald A.
Morris, Evan
Pezzato, Jacklyn
Sappey, Ben
Schofield, Tobias
Skemer, Andrew
Wallace, James K.
Wang, Ji
Agrawal, Shubh
Horstman, Katelyn
Publication Year :
2024

Abstract

Using Keck Planet Imager and Characterizer (KPIC) high-resolution ($R$~35000) spectroscopy from 2.29-2.49 $\mu$m, we present uniform atmospheric retrievals for eight young substellar companions with masses of ~10-30 $M_\textrm{Jup}$, orbital separations spanning ~50-360 au, and $T_\textrm{eff}$ between ~1500-2600 K. We find that all companions have solar C/O ratios, and metallicities, to within the 1-2$\sigma$ level, with the measurements clustered around solar composition. Stars in the same stellar associations as our systems have near-solar abundances, so these results indicate that this population of companions is consistent with formation via direct gravitational collapse. Alternatively, core accretion outside the CO snowline would be compatible with our measurements, though the high mass ratios of most systems would require rapid core assembly and gas accretion in massive disks. On a population level, our findings can be contrasted with abundance measurements for directly imaged planets with m<10 $M_\textrm{Jup}$, which show tentative atmospheric metal enrichment. In addition, the atmospheric compositions of our sample of companions are distinct from those of hot Jupiters, which most likely form via core accretion. For two companions with $T_\textrm{eff}$~1700-2000 K (kap And b and GSC 6214-210 b), our best-fit models prefer a non-gray cloud model with >3$\sigma$ significance. The cloudy models yield 2-3$\sigma$ lower $T_\textrm{eff}$ for these companions, though the C/O and [C/H] still agree between cloudy and clear models at the $1\sigma$ level. Finally, we constrain 12CO/13CO for three companions with the highest S/N data (GQ Lup b, HIP 79098 b, and DH Tau b), and report $v$sin($i$) and radial velocities for all companions.<br />Comment: Accepted to ApJ, 52 pages, 20 figures

Details

Database :
arXiv
Publication Type :
Report
Accession number :
edsarx.2405.13128
Document Type :
Working Paper