WIde Separation Planets In Time (WISPIT): Two directly imaged exoplanets around the Sun-like stellar binary WISPIT 1

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Main Authors: van Capelleveen, Richelle F., Kenworthy, Matthew A., Ginski, Christian, Mamajek, Eric E., Bohn, Alexander J., Landman, Rico, Stolker, Tomas, Zhang, Yapeng, van der Marel, Nienke, Snellen, Ignas
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author van Capelleveen, Richelle F.
Kenworthy, Matthew A.
Ginski, Christian
Mamajek, Eric E.
Bohn, Alexander J.
Landman, Rico
Stolker, Tomas
Zhang, Yapeng
van der Marel, Nienke
Snellen, Ignas
author_facet van Capelleveen, Richelle F.
Kenworthy, Matthew A.
Ginski, Christian
Mamajek, Eric E.
Bohn, Alexander J.
Landman, Rico
Stolker, Tomas
Zhang, Yapeng
van der Marel, Nienke
Snellen, Ignas
contents Wide separation gas giant planets present a challenge to current planet formation theories, and the detection and characterisation of these systems enables us to constrain their formation pathways. The WIde Separation Planets In Time (WISPIT) survey aims to detect and characterise wide separation planetary-mass companions over a range of ages from <5 to 20 Myr around solar-type host stars at distances of 75-500 (median: 140) parsecs. The WISPIT survey carries out two 5 minute H-band exposures with the VLT/SPHERE instrument and IRDIS camera, separated by at least six months to identify co-moving companions via proper motion analysis. These two H-band observations in combination with a follow-up Ks-band observation were used to determine the colour-magnitude of the co-moving companions and to derive their masses by comparing to AMES-COND and AMES-DUSTY evolutionary tracks. We report the discovery of WISPIT 1b and WISPIT 1c, two gas giant exoplanets that are co-moving with the stellar binary WISPIT 1, which itself consists of a K4 star and M5.5 star in a multi-decadal orbit. The planets are at projected separations of 338 au and 840 au and have masses of 10 Mj and 4 Mj respectively. We identified two common proper motion planetary companions to a (previously unknown) stellar binary with a Sun-like primary. These targets are ideal for follow up characterisation with both ground and space-based telescopes. Monitoring of the orbit with the GRAVITY interferometer will place constraints on their eccentricity, and spectroscopic characterisation will identify the composition and metallicity, providing information on their formation pathways.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_18456
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle WIde Separation Planets In Time (WISPIT): Two directly imaged exoplanets around the Sun-like stellar binary WISPIT 1
van Capelleveen, Richelle F.
Kenworthy, Matthew A.
Ginski, Christian
Mamajek, Eric E.
Bohn, Alexander J.
Landman, Rico
Stolker, Tomas
Zhang, Yapeng
van der Marel, Nienke
Snellen, Ignas
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Wide separation gas giant planets present a challenge to current planet formation theories, and the detection and characterisation of these systems enables us to constrain their formation pathways. The WIde Separation Planets In Time (WISPIT) survey aims to detect and characterise wide separation planetary-mass companions over a range of ages from <5 to 20 Myr around solar-type host stars at distances of 75-500 (median: 140) parsecs. The WISPIT survey carries out two 5 minute H-band exposures with the VLT/SPHERE instrument and IRDIS camera, separated by at least six months to identify co-moving companions via proper motion analysis. These two H-band observations in combination with a follow-up Ks-band observation were used to determine the colour-magnitude of the co-moving companions and to derive their masses by comparing to AMES-COND and AMES-DUSTY evolutionary tracks. We report the discovery of WISPIT 1b and WISPIT 1c, two gas giant exoplanets that are co-moving with the stellar binary WISPIT 1, which itself consists of a K4 star and M5.5 star in a multi-decadal orbit. The planets are at projected separations of 338 au and 840 au and have masses of 10 Mj and 4 Mj respectively. We identified two common proper motion planetary companions to a (previously unknown) stellar binary with a Sun-like primary. These targets are ideal for follow up characterisation with both ground and space-based telescopes. Monitoring of the orbit with the GRAVITY interferometer will place constraints on their eccentricity, and spectroscopic characterisation will identify the composition and metallicity, providing information on their formation pathways.
title WIde Separation Planets In Time (WISPIT): Two directly imaged exoplanets around the Sun-like stellar binary WISPIT 1
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.18456