Three Years of High-Contrast Imaging of the PDS 70 b and c Exoplanets at Hα with MagAO-X: Evidence of Strong Protoplanet Hα Variability and Circumplanetary Dust

Abstract

We present 3 years of high-contrast imaging of the PDS 70 b and c accreting protoplanets with the new extreme AO system MagAO-X as part of the MaxProtoPlanetS survey of H$\hat{I}\pm$ protoplanets. In 2023 and 2024 our sharp (25-27 mas FWHM); well AO corrected (20-26% Strehl), deep (2-3.6hr) images detect compact (r~30 mas; r~3 au) circumplanetary disks (CPDs) surrounding both protoplanets. Starlight scattering off the dusty outer edges of these CPDs is the likely source of the bright compact continuum light detected within ~30 mas of both planets in our simultaneously obtained continuum 668 nm filter images. After subtraction of contaminating continuum and PSF residuals with pyKLIP ADI and SDI we obtained high-contrast ASDI H$\hat{I}\pm$ images of both planets in 2022, 2023 and 2024. We find the H$\hat{I}\pm$ line flux of planet b fell by (8.1$\pm$1.6)x10${}^{-16}$ ergs/s/cm${}^2$ a factor of 4.6 drop in flux from 2022 to 2023. In March 2024, planet b continued to be faint with just a slight 1.6x rise to an H$\hat{I}\pm$ line flux of (3.64$\pm$0.87)x10${}^{-16}$ ergs/s/cm${}^2$. For c we measure a significant increase of (2.74$\pm$0.51)x10${}^{-16}$ ergs/s/cm${}^2$ from 2023 to 2024 which is a factor of 2.3x increase. So both protoplanets have recently experienced significant H$\hat{I}\pm$ variability with ~1 yr sampling. In 2024, planet c is brighter than b: as c is brightening and b generally fading. We also tentatively detect one new point source "CC3" inside the inner disk (~49 mas; at PA~295 deg; 2024) with orbital motion roughly consistent with a ~5.6 au orbit.

50 pages, 20 figures, published in January 2025 Astronomical Journal. NOTE Figure D1 has correct planetary mass accretion scale compared to published AJ version