The PLATO field selection process. II. Characterization of LOPS2, the first long-pointing field

TL;DR

This paper details the characterization of LOPS2, the first long-pointing field for the upcoming ESA PLATO mission, focusing on its astrophysical content and potential for exoplanet discovery.

Contribution

It provides a detailed description of LOPS2's astrophysical content, including known planetary systems and stellar populations, as a key observational field for PLATO.

Findings

Identification of LOPS2 as the first long-pointing field for PLATO

Detailed astrophysical content of LOPS2 including planetary systems and stellar populations

Potential synergies with other astronomical facilities

Abstract

PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO) is an ESA M-class mission to be launched by the end of 2026 to discover and characterize transiting planets around bright and nearby stars, and in particular habitable rocky planets hosted by solar-like stars. Over the mission lifetime, an average of 8% of the science data rate will be allocated to Guest Observer programs (GOs) selected by ESA through public calls, hence it is essential for the community to know in advance where the observing fields will be located. In a previous paper, we identified two preliminary long-pointing fields (LOPN1 and LOPS1) for PLATO, respectively in the northern and southern hemisphere. Here we present LOPS2, a slightly adjusted version of the southern field that has recently been selected by the PLATO Science Working Team as the first field to be observed by PLATO for at least two continuous years, following the scientific requirements. In this paper, we describe the astrophysical content of LOPS2 in detail, including known planetary systems, bright/variable/binary stars, clusters and synergies with other current and future facilities.