The Likelihood of Detecting Young Giant Planets with High Contrast Imaging and Interferometry

Abstract

Giant planets are expected to form at orbital radii that are relatively large compared to transit and radial velocity detections (>1 AU). As a result, giant planet formation is best observed through direct imaging. By simulating the formation of giant (0.3-5$M_J$) planets by core accretion, we predict planet magnitude in the near infrared (2-4 $\mu$m) and demonstrate that, once a planet reaches the runaway accretion phase, it is self-luminous and is bright enough to be detected in near infrared wavelengths. Using planet distribution models consistent with existing radial velocity and imaging constraints, we simulate a large sample of systems with the same stellar and disc properties to determine how many planets can be detected. We find that current large (8-10m) telescopes have, at most a 0.2% chance of detecting a core accretion giant planet in the L' band and 2% in the K band for a typical solar type star. Future instruments such as METIS and VIKiNG have higher sensitivity and are expected to detect exoplanets at a maximum rate of 2% and 8% respectively.

12 pages, 13 figures, final revision submitted to MNRAS

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• Constraining the Nature of the PDS 70 Protoplanets with VLTI/GRAVITY
• Exoplanets with ELT-METIS I: Estimating the direct imaging exoplanet yield around stars within 6.5 parsecs
• High-resolution survey for planetary companions to young stars in the Taurus Molecular Cloud
• Constraints on Planets in Nearby Young Moving Groups Detectable by High-Contrast Imaging and Gaia Astrometry