Planet Candidates from K2 Campaigns 5-8 and Follow-Up Optical Spectroscopy [EPA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/1711.06377


We present 151 planet candidates orbiting 141 stars from K2 campaigns 5-8 (C5-C8), identified through a systematic search of K2 photometry. In addition, we identify 16 targets as likely eclipsing binaries, based on their light curve morphology. We obtained follow-up optical spectra of 105/141 candidate host stars and 8/16 eclipsing binaries to improve stellar properties and to identify spectroscopic binaries. Importantly, spectroscopy enables measurements of host star radii with $\approx$10% precision, compared to $\approx$40% precision when only broadband photometry is available. The improved stellar radii enable improved planet radii. Our curated catalog of planet candidates provides a starting point for future efforts to confirm and characterize K2 discoveries.

Read this paper on arXiv…

E. Petigura, I. Crossfield, H. Isaacson, et. al.
Mon, 20 Nov 17
46/56

Comments: Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal; 17 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables, download source for full tables