A search for transiting planets in the $\beta$ Pictoris system

TL;DR

This study searched for transiting planets in the $eta$ Pictoris system using BRITE satellite data, but found no planets larger than Jupiter's radius within 30 days orbit, setting new detection limits.

Contribution

First dedicated search for short-period transiting planets in the $eta$ Pictoris system using space-based photometry and transit injection validation.

Findings

No transiting planets detected in the data.

Ruling out planets larger than 0.6-1.05 Jupiter radii depending on the period.

Established detection sensitivity limits for the system.

Abstract

The bright $(V=3.86)$ star $\beta$ Pictoris is a nearby young star with a debris disk and gas giant exoplanet, $\beta$ Pictoris b, in a multi-decade orbit around it. Both the planet's orbit and disk are almost edge-on to our line of sight. We carry out a search for any transiting planets in the $\beta$ Pictoris system with orbits of less than 30 days that are coplanar with the planet $\beta$ Pictoris b. We search for a planetary transit using data from the BRITE-Constellation nanosatellite BRITE-Heweliusz, analyzing the photometry using the Box-Fitting Least Squares Algorithm (BLS). The sensitivity of the method is verified by injection of artificial planetary transit signals using the Bad-Ass Transit Model cAlculatioN (BATMAN) code. No planet was found in the BRITE-Constellation data set. We rule out planets larger than 0.6 $\mathrm{R_J}$ for periods of less than 5 days, larger than 0.75 $\mathrm{R_J}$ for periods of less than 10 days, and larger than 1.05 $\mathrm{R_J}$ for periods of less than 20 days.