Upper limits on exosatellites around β Pictoris b
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 549
Abstract
ABSTRACT $\beta$ Pictoris b is one of the closest known directly imaged gas giant exoplanets with an orbit that is almost edge-on to our line of sight, making it an ideal target for radial velocity monitoring to search for massive exomoons. We measure the radial velocity of $\beta$ Pictoris b over several epochs between October 2024 and March 2025 by using the cross-correlation of a template spectrum with absorption lines in the planet’s atmosphere, giving a mean precision of 160 m s$^{-1}$. The resultant set of radial velocities is analysed with a periodogram to search for candidate radial velocity (RV) signals indicating a massive exomoon. Although we do not detect an exomoon signal in our data, our detection limits for a single moon are 80 Earth masses at $P=1$ d and 1 Jupiter at $P=200$ d, comparable to RV exomoon searches around other substellar companions. The RV limit is comparable with the astrometric exomoon limit at a period of 7 d and a mass of 150 $\mathrm{ M}_\oplus$, where for longer periods the astrometric searches have lower mass limits. With an additional observing season, the upgraded CRyogenic InfraRed Echelle Spectrograph (CRIRES+) can detect a planet/moon mass ratio of $10^{-3}$ ($4\,\mathrm{ M}_\oplus$) with a period of up to one day, and can detect a Neptune-mass moon at hundreds of Jupiter radii.
Authors 11
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Leiden University · Leiden Observatory
Affiliation as printed
Leiden Observatory, Leiden University , Postbus 9513, NL-2300 RA Leiden ,
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Leiden University · Leiden Observatory
Affiliation as printed
Leiden Observatory, Leiden University , Postbus 9513, NL-2300 RA Leiden ,
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Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian · Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Center for Astrophysics|Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 ,
Department of Physics and Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge, MA 02139 ,
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Affiliation as printed
Center for Data Intensive and Time Domain Astronomy, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI 48824 ,
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Affiliation as printed
Astrophysics, University of Oxford , Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH ,
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University of Florida · Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Department of Astronomy, University of Florida , Bryant Space Science Center, Stadium Road, Gainesville, FL 32611 ,
Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 ,
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Leiden University · Leiden Observatory
Affiliation as printed
Leiden Observatory, Leiden University , Postbus 9513, NL-2300 RA Leiden ,
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Affiliation as printed
Center for Data Intensive and Time Domain Astronomy, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI 48824 ,
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Leiden University · Leiden Observatory · Delft University of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Delft University of Technology , NL-2629 HS Delft ,
Leiden Observatory, Leiden University , Postbus 9513, NL-2300 RA Leiden ,
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Leiden University · Leiden Observatory
Affiliation as printed
Leiden Observatory, Leiden University , Postbus 9513, NL-2300 RA Leiden ,
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Leiden University · Leiden Observatory
Affiliation as printed
Leiden Observatory, Leiden University , Postbus 9513, NL-2300 RA Leiden ,
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