Context. Since the recent discovery of the directly imaged super-Jovian planet AF Lep b, several studies have been conducted to characterize its atmosphere and constrain its orbital parameters. AF Lep b has a measured dynamical mass of 3.68 ± 0.48 MJup, radius of 1.3 ± 0.15 RJup, nearly circular orbit in spin-orbit alignment with the host star, relatively high metallicity, and near-solar to super-solar C/O ratio. However, key parameters such as the rotational velocity and radial velocity have not been estimated thus far, as they require high-resolution spectroscopic data that are impossible to obtain with classical spectrographs. Aims. AF Lep b was recently observed with the new HiRISE visitor instrument at the VLT, with the goal of obtaining high-resolution (R ≈ 140 000) spectroscopic observations to better constrain the orbital and atmospheric parameters of the young giant exoplanet. Methods. We compared the extracted spectrum of AF Lep b to self-consistent atmospheric models using ForMoSA, a forward modeling tool based on Bayesian inference methods. We used our measurements of the planet's radial velocity to offer new constraints on its orbit. Results. From the forward modeling, we find a C/O ratio that aligns with previous low-resolution analyses and we confirm its supersolar metallicity. We also unambiguously confirm the presence of methane in the atmosphere of the companion. Based on all available relative astrometry and radial velocity measurements of the host star, we show that two distinct orbital populations are possible for the companion. We derived the radial velocity of AF Lep b to be 10.51 ± 1.03 km s-1 and show that this value is in good agreement with one of the two orbital solutions, allowing us to rule out an entire family of orbits. Additionally, assuming that the rotation and orbit are coplanar, the derived planet's rotation rate is consistent with the observed trend of increasing spin velocity with higher planet mass.

The β Pictoris system, with its two directly imaged planets β Pic b and β Pic c and its well characterised debris disk, is a prime target for detailed characterisation of young planetary systems. Here, we present high-resolution and high-contrast LM band spectroscopy with CRIRES+ of the system, primarily for the purpose of atmospheric characterisation of β Pic b. We developed methods for determining slit geometry and wavelength calibration based on telluric absorption and emission lines, as well as methods for point spread function (PSF) modelling and subtraction, and artificial planet injection, in order to extract and characterise planet spectra at a high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) and spectral fidelity. Through cross-correlation with model spectra, we detected H2O absorption for planet b in each of the 13 individual observations spanning four different spectral settings. This provides a clear confirmation of previously detected water absorption, and allowed us to derive an exquisite precision on the rotational velocity of β Pic b, ÏÂ rot = 20.36 ± 0.31 km/s, which is consistent within error bars with previous determinations. We also observed a tentative H2O cross-correlation peak at the expected position and velocity of planet c; the feature is however not at a statistically significant level. Despite a higher sensitivity to SiO than earlier studies, we do not confirm a tentative SiO feature previously reported for planet b. When combining data from different epochs and different observing modes for the strong H2O feature of planet b, we find that the S/N grows considerably faster when sets of different spectral settings are combined, compared to when multiple data sets of the same spectral setting are combined. This implies that maximising spectral coverage is often more important than maximising integration depth when investigating exoplanetary atmospheres using cross-correlation techniques.

We report the discovery of a new directly imaged brown-dwarf companion with Keck/NIRC2+pyWFS around a nearby mid-type M-dwarf LSPM J1446+4633 (hereafter J1446). The L'-band contrast (4.5 × 10⁻³) is consistent with a ∼20–60 M_Jup object at 1–10 Gyr and our two-epoch NIRC2 data suggest a ∼30% (∼3.1σ) variability in its L'-band flux. We incorporated Gaia DR3 non-single-star catalog into the orbital fitting by combining the Subaru/IRD radial velocity monitoring results, NIRC2 direct imaging (DI) results, and Gaia proper motion acceleration. As a result, we derive and ≈4.3 au for the dynamical mass and the semimajor axis of the companion J1446B, respectively. J1446B is one of the intriguing late-T dwarfs showing variability at L'-band for future atmospheric studies with the constrained dynamical mass. Because the J1446 system is accessible with various observation techniques such as astrometry, DI, and high-resolution spectroscopy including radial velocity measurement, it has a potential as a great benchmark system to improve our understanding for cool dwarfs.

The companion GL229B was recently resolved by Xuan et al. as a tight binary of two brown dwarfs (Ba and Bb) through VLTI-GRAVITY interferometry and Very Large Telescope-CRIRES+ radial velocity (RV) measurements. Here, we present Bayesian models of the interferometric and RV data in additional detail, along with an updated outer orbit of the brown dwarf pair about the primary. To create a model of the inner orbit with robust uncertainties, we apply kernel phases to the GRAVITY data, to address baseline redundancy in the raw closure phases. Using parallel tempering, we constrain the binary’s orbit using only VLTI-GRAVITY data, despite each epoch having low visibility-plane coverage and/or signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). We demonstrate very good agreement between the VLTI-GRAVITY and CRIRES+ data sets and find that the inner binary has a period of 12.1346 ± 0.0011 days, an eccentricity of 0.2317 ± 0.0025, and a total mass of 71.0 ± 0.4 Mjup, with Ba and Bb having masses of 37.7 ± 1.1 Mjup and 33.4 ± 1.0Mjup, respectively. With new Keck/NIRC2 astrometry, we update the outer orbit of GL229B around the primary. We find a semimajor axis of 42.9+3.0-2.4 au, an eccentricity of 0.736 ± 0.014, and a total mass for B of 71.7 ± 0.6 Mjup, consistent with that derived from the inner orbit. We find a mutual inclination of 31° ± 2 . ° 5, below the threshold for Kozai-Lidov oscillations. The agreement on the mass of Ba+Bb between the inner and outer orbits is an important test of our ability to model the RV, astrometry, and Hipparcos-Gaia proper-motion anomaly. Our methodological advances in handling interferometric data with low SNR and sparse UV coverage will benefit future observations of rapidly orbiting companions with VLTI-GRAVITY.

We present aperture masking interferometry (AMI) observations of the star HIP 65426 at 3.8 μm, as part of the JWST Direct Imaging Early Release Science program, obtained using the Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph instrument. This mode provides access to very small inner working angles (even separations slightly below the Michelson limit of 0.5λ/D for an interferometer), which are inaccessible with the classical inner working angles of the JWST coronagraphs. When combined with JWST's unprecedented infrared sensitivity, this mode has the potential to probe a new portion of parameter space across a wide array of astronomical observations. Using this mode, we are able to achieve a 5σ contrast of Δm_F380M ∼ 7.62 ± 0.13 mag relative to the host star at separations ​​​​​≳0.″07, and the contrast deteriorates steeply at separations ≲0.″07. However, we detect no additional companions interior to the known companion HIP 65426b (at separation ∼0.″82 or 87−31+108au). Our observations thus rule out companions more massive than 10–12 M_Jup at separations ∼10–20 au from HIP 65426, a region out of reach of ground- or space-based coronagraphic imaging. These observations confirm that the AMI mode on JWST is sensitive to planetary mass companions at close-in separations (≳0.″07), even for thousands of more distant stars at ∼100 pc, in addition to the stars in the nearby young moving groups and associations, as stated in previous works. This result will allow the planning and successful execution of future observations to probe the inner regions of nearby stellar systems, opening an essentially unexplored parameter space.

PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars) is ESA’s M3 mission designed to detect and characterise extrasolar planets and perform asteroseismic monitoring of a large number of stars. PLATO will detect small planets (down to <2R_Earth) around bright stars (<11 mag), including terrestrial planets in the habitable zone of solar-like stars. With the complement of radial velocity observations from the ground, planets will be characterised for their radius, mass, and age with high accuracy (5%, 10%, 10% for an Earth-Sun combination respectively). PLATO will provide us with a large-scale catalogue of well-characterised small planets up to intermediate orbital periods, relevant for a meaningful comparison to planet formation theories and to better understand planet evolution. It will make possible comparative exoplanetology to place our Solar System planets in a broader context. In parallel, PLATO will study (host) stars using asteroseismology, allowing us to determine the stellar properties with high accuracy, substantially enhancing our knowledge of stellar structure and evolution. The payload instrument consists of 26 cameras with 12cm aperture each. For at least four years, the mission will perform high-precision photometric measurements. Here we review the science objectives, present PLATO‘s target samples and fields, provide an overview of expected core science performance as well as a description of the instrument and the mission profile towards the end of the serial production of the flight cameras. PLATO is scheduled for a launch date end 2026. This overview therefore provides a summary of the mission to the community in preparation of the upcoming operational phases.

Context. Over the past decade, large surveys with state-of-the-art planet-finder instruments such as Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch on board Very Large Telescope (SPHERE@VLT), coupled with coronagraphic devices and extreme adaptive optics (AO) systems, have unveiled around 20 planetary mass companions at a semi-major axis greater than 10 astronomical units (au). Since direct imaging is the only detection technique with the ability to probe this outer region of planetary systems, the SPHERE infrared survey for exoplanets (SHINE) was designed and conducted from 2015 to 2021 to study the demographics of such young gas giant planets around 400 young nearby solar-type stars. The analysis of the first part of the survey focused on 150 stars (SHINE F150) was already published in a series of papers in 2021. An additional filler campaign called snapSHINE was conducted to acquire second epoch data, using shallow observations. Aims. In this paper, we present the observing strategy, data quality, and point source analysis of the full SHINE statistical sample as well as snapSHINE. Methods. Both surveys used the SPHERE@VLT instrument with the IRDIS dual band imager in conjunction with the integral field spectrograph (IFS) and the angular differential imaging observing technique. All SHINE data (650 datasets), corresponding to 400 stars, including the targets of the F150 survey, are processed in a uniform manner, with an advanced post-processing algorithm called PACO ASDI. An emphasis is put on the classification and identification of the most promising candidate companions. Results. Compared to the previous early analysis SHINE F150, the use of advanced post-processing techniques significantly improved the contrast detection limits by one or two magnitudes (x3-x6), which will allow us to put even tighter constraints on the radial distribution of young gas giants. This increased sensitivity directly sets SHINE apart as the largest and deepest direct imaging survey ever conducted. We detected and classified more than 3500 physical sources. One additional substellar companion was confirmed during the second phase of the survey (HIP 74865 B) and several new promising candidate companions are awaiting follow-up epoch confirmations.

Aims. We wish to confirm the nature of YSES 2b, a purportedly faint companion of the young star YSES 2.

Methods. We used on-sky observations from SPHERE and GRAVITY to measure the astrometric position of 2b with respect to the star YSES 2, and examined the competing hypotheses of (i) a bound substellar companion versus (ii) a distant unrelated background source with a non-zero proper motion.

Results. YSES 2b appears to be a late-type M-dwarf star over 2 kiloparsecs behind the star YSES 2. It has a transverse velocity of ∼300 km s⁻¹ and is located within one of the spiral arms of the Galaxy. The main discriminant was multiple epochs of GRAVITY astrometry that identified the sub-milliarcsecond parallactic motion of the star.

We describe the motivation, design, and early results for our 42-night, 125 star Subaru/SCExAO direct imaging survey for planets around accelerating stars. Unlike prior large surveys, ours focuses only on stars showing evidence for an astrometric acceleration plausibly due to the dynamical pull of an unseen planet or brown dwarf. Our program is motivated by results from a recent pilot program that found the first planet jointly discovered from direct imaging and astrometry and resulted in a planet and brown dwarf discovery rate substantially higher than previous unbiased surveys like GPIES. The first preliminary results from our program reveal multiple new companions; discovered planets and brown dwarfs can be further characterized with follow-up data, including higher-resolution spectra. Finally, we describe the critical role this program plays in supporting the Roman Space Telescope Coronagraphic Instrument, providing a currently-missing list of targets suitable for the CGI technological demonstration without which the CGI tech demo risks failure.

Context. A low-mass companion potentially in the brown dwarf mass regime was discovered on a ~12 yr orbit (~5.5 au) around HD 167665 using radial velocity (RV) monitoring. Joint RV–astrometry analyses confirmed that HD 167665B is a brown dwarf with precisions on the measured mass of ~4–9%. Brown dwarf companions with measured mass and luminosity are valuable for testing formation and evolutionary models. However, its atmospheric properties and luminosity are still unconstrained, preventing detailed tests of evolutionary models.

Aims. We further characterize the HD 167665 system by measuring the luminosity and refining the mass of its companion and reassessing the stellar age.

Methods. We present new high-contrast imaging data of the star and of its close-in environment from SPHERE and GRAVITY, which we combined with RV data from CORALIE and HIRES and astrometry from HIPPARCOS and Gaia.

Results. The analysis of the host star properties indicates an age of 6.20 ± 1.13 Gyr. GRAVITY reveals a point source near the position predicted from a joint fit of RV data and HIPPARCOS–Gaia proper motion anomalies. Subsequent SPHERE imaging confirms the detection and reveals a faint point source of contrast of ∆H2 = 10.95 ± 0.33 mag at a projected angular separation of ~180 mas. A joint fit of the high-contrast imaging, RV, and HIPPARCOS intermediate astrometric data together with the Gaia astrometric parameters constrains the mass of HD 167665B to ~1.2%, 60.3 ± 0.7 M_J. The SPHERE colors and spectrum point to an early or mid-T brown dwarf of spectral type . Fitting the SPHERE spectrophotometry and GRAVITY spectrum with synthetic spectra suggests an effective temperature of ~1000–1150 K, a surface gravity of ~5.0–5.4 dex, and a bolometric luminosity log(L/L_⊙)= dex. The mass, luminosity, and age of the companion can only be reproduced within 3σ by the hybrid cloudy evolutionary models of Saumon & Marley (2008, ApJ, 689, 1327), whereas cloudless evolutionary models underpredict its luminosity.