Detecting giant planets orbiting low-mass stars to understand how planets form

Bryant, Edward M
Bayliss, Daniel

Publication date

July 2021

DOI

Abstract

Determining the occurrence rate of giant planets orbiting low mass stars (M<0.6Msun) is a critical test of the core-accretion theory of planet formation. However the occurrence rate of these giant planets is poorly constrained from previous surveys. In this study we determine this occurrence rate using the hundreds of thousands of low-mass stars monitored in the TESS FFIs. We perform an automated transit search through light curves extracted from the TESS full frame images for low-mass dwarf stars selected using TICv8 parameters. Candidates are selected by a series of objective vetting steps that identify and reject false positive cases, particularly eclipsing binary systems and variable stars. Injection and recovery tests are used to t...