TFAW survey. I. Wavelet-based denoising of K2 light curves. Discovery and validation of two new Earth-sized planets in K2 campaign 1

TL;DR

This paper introduces TFAW, a wavelet-based denoising method that significantly improves photometric precision in K2 light curves, leading to better transit detection and the discovery of two new Earth-sized exoplanets in campaign 1.

Contribution

The paper presents TFAW, a novel wavelet-based denoising technique, and demonstrates its effectiveness in enhancing transit detection and characterization in K2 data, resulting in new planet discoveries.

Findings

TFAW improves 6hr CDPP by ~30% over EVEREST 2.0.

Transit detection efficiency increases by ~8.5× with TFAW.

Two new Earth-sized planets validated in K2 campaign 1.

Abstract

The wavelet-based detrending and denoising method \texttt{TFAW} is applied for the first time to \texttt{EVEREST 2.0}-corrected light curves to further improve the photometric precision of almost all K2 observing campaigns (C1-C8, C12-C18). The performance of both methods is evaluated in terms of 6 hr combined differential photometric precision (CDPP), simulated transit detection efficiency, and planet characterization in different SNR regimes. On average, \texttt{TFAW} median 6hr CDPP is $\sim$30$\%$ better than the one achieved by \texttt{EVEREST 2.0} for all observing campaigns. Using the \texttt{transit least-squares} (\texttt{TLS}) algorithm, we show that the transit detection efficiency for simulated Earth-Sun-like systems is $\sim$8.5$\times$ higher for \texttt{TFAW}-corrected light curves than for \texttt{EVEREST 2.0} ones. Using the light curves of two confirmed exoplanets, K2-44 b (high-SNR) and K2-298 b (low-SNR), we show that \texttt{TFAW} yields better MCMC posterior distributions, transit parameters compatible with the cataloged ones but with smaller uncertainties and narrows the credibility intervals. We use the combination of \texttt{TFAW}'s improved photometric precision and \texttt{TLS} enhancement of the signal detection efficiency for weak signals to search for new transit candidates in K2 observing campaign 1. We report the discovery of two new K2-C1 Earth-sized planets statistically validated, using the \texttt{vespa} software: EPIC 201170410.02, with a radius of 1.047$^{+0.276}_{-0.257}R_{\oplus}$ planet orbiting an M-type star, and EPIC 201757695.02, with a radius of 0.908$^{+0.059}_{-0.064}R_{\oplus}$ planet orbiting a K-type star. EPIC 201757695.02 is the 9-th smallest planet ever discovered in K2-C1, and the 39-th smallest in all K2 campaigns.