Keck/NIRC2 L'-Band Imaging of Jovian-Mass Accreting Protoplanets around PDS 70

Abstract

We present L'-band imaging of the PDS 70 planetary system with Keck/NIRC2 using the new infrared pyramid wave front sensor. We detected both PDS 70 b and c in our images, as well as the front rim of the circumstellar disk. After subtracting off a model of the disk, we measured the astrometry and photometry of both planets. Placing priors based on the dynamics of the system, we estimated PDS 70 b to have a semimajor axis of 20⁺³₋₄ au and PDS 70 c to have a semimajor axis of 34⁺¹²₋₆ au (95% credible interval). We fit the spectral energy distribution (SED) of both planets. For PDS 70 b, we were able to place better constraints on the red half of its SED than previous studies and inferred the radius of the photosphere to be 2–3 R_(Jup). The SED of PDS 70 c is less well constrained, with a range of total luminosities spanning an order of magnitude. With our inferred radii and luminosities, we used evolutionary models of accreting protoplanets to derive a mass of PDS 70 b between 2 and 4 M_(Jup) and a mean mass accretion rate between 3 × 10⁻⁷ and 8 × 10⁻⁷ M_(Jup)/yr. For PDS 70 c, we computed a mass between 1 and 3 M_(Jup) and mean mass accretion rate between 1 × 10⁻⁷ and 5 × 10⁻⁷ M_(Jup) /yr. The mass accretion rates imply dust accretion timescales short enough to hide strong molecular absorption features in both planets' SEDs.