Constraints on the occurrence and distribution of 1--20 \mj\ companions to stars at separations of 5--5000\,au from a compilation of direct imaging surveys

TL;DR

This study combines multiple direct imaging surveys to statistically analyze the occurrence and distribution of 1-20 Jupiter-mass companions to stars at separations of 5-5000 au, revealing correlations with host star mass and semi-major axis.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive statistical analysis covering the entire 5-5000 au separation range, constraining the distribution parameters of wide companions and their dependence on host star mass.

Findings

Occurrence rate of companions is about 11% for 1-20 Mj at 5-5000 au.

Companion occurrence decreases with increasing semi-major axis and mass.

Occurrence increases with host star mass.

Abstract

We present the first statistical analysis of exoplanet direct imaging surveys combining adaptive optics imaging at small separations with deep seeing-limited observations at large separations allowing us to study the entire orbital separation domain from 5 to 5000~au simultaneously. Our sample of 344 stars includes only confirmed members of nearby young associations and is based on all AO direct-imaging detection limits readily available online, with addition of our own previous seeing limited surveys. Assuming that the companion distribution in mass and semi-major axis follows a power law distribution and adding a dependence on the mass of the host star, such as $d^2n\propto fM^{\alpha}a^{\beta} (M_\star/M_{\odot})^{\gamma}$d$ M $d$a$, we constrain the parameters to obtained $\alpha=-0.18^{+0.77}_{-0.65}$, $\beta=-1.43^{+0.23}_{-0.24}$, and $\gamma=0.62^{+0.56}_{-0.50}$,at a 68\% confidence level, and we obtain $f=0.11^{+0.11}_{-0.05}$, for the overall planet occurrence rate for companions with masses between 1 to 20~\mj\ in the range 5--5000~au. Thus, we find that occurrence of companions is negatively correlated with semi-major axis and companion mass (marginally) but is positively correlated with the stellar host mass. Our inferred mass distribution is in good agreement with other distributions found previously from direct imaging surveys for planets and brown dwarfs, but is shallower as a function of mass than the distributions inferred by radial velocity surveys of gas giants in the 1--3\,au range. This may suggest that planets at these wide and very-wide separations represent the low-mass tail of the brown dwarfs and stellar companion distribution rather than an extension of the distribution of the inner planets.