Eleven Multiplanet Systems from K2 Campaigns 1 and 2 and the Masses of Two Hot Super-Earths

August 2016 • 2016ApJ...827...78S

Authors • Sinukoff, Evan • Howard, Andrew W. • Petigura, Erik A. • Schlieder, Joshua E. • Crossfield, Ian J. M. • Ciardi, David R. • Fulton, Benjamin J. • Isaacson, Howard • Aller, Kimberly M. • Baranec, Christoph • Beichman, Charles A. • Hansen, Brad M. S. • Knutson, Heather A. • Law, Nicholas M. • Liu, Michael C. • Riddle, Reed • Dressing, Courtney D.

Abstract • We present a catalog of 11 multiplanet systems from Campaigns 1 and 2 of the K2 mission. We report the sizes and orbits of 26 planets split between seven two-planet systems and four three-planet systems. These planets stem from a systematic search of the K2 photometry for all dwarf stars observed by K2 in these fields. We precisely characterized the host stars with adaptive optics imaging and analysis of high-resolution optical spectra from Keck/HIRES and medium-resolution spectra from IRTF/SpeX. We confirm two planet candidates by mass detection and validate the remaining 24 candidates to >99% confidence. Thirteen planets were previously validated or confirmed by other studies, and 24 were previously identified as planet candidates. The planets are mostly smaller than Neptune (21/26 planets), as in the Kepler mission, and all have short periods (P < 50 days) due to the duration of the K2 photometry. The host stars are relatively bright (most have Kp < 12.5 mag) and are amenable to follow-up characterization. For K2-38, we measured precise radial velocities using Keck/HIRES and provide initial estimates of the planet masses. K2-38b is a short-period super-Earth with a radius of 1.55+/- 0.16 R _⊕, a mass of 12.0+/- 2.9 M _⊕, and a high density consistent with an iron-rich composition. The outer planet K2-38c is a lower-density sub-Neptune-size planet with a radius of 2.42+/- 0.29 R _⊕ and a mass of 9.9+/- 4.6 M _⊕ that likely has a substantial envelope. This new planet sample demonstrates the capability of K2 to discover numerous planetary systems around bright stars.

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• SIMBAD http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbo.pl?bibcode=2016ApJ...827...78S
• PDF https://stacks.iop.org/0004-637X/827/78/pdf
• PREPRINT http://arxiv.org/abs/1511.09213
• DATA http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/DisplayOverview/nph-DisplayOverview?type=REFERENCE&bibcode=2016ApJ...827...78S
• DATA https://archive.stsci.edu/mastbibref.php?bibcode=2016ApJ...827...78S
• DATA https://irsa.ipac.caltech.edu/bibdata/2016/S/2016ApJ...827...78S.html
• ELECTR https://doi.org/10.3847%2F0004-637X%2F827%2F1%2F78