The K2 mission has recently begun to discover new and diverse planetary systems. In December 2014 Campaign 1 data from the mission was released, providing high-precision photometry for ~22000 objects over an 80 day timespan. We searched these data wi
th the aim of detecting further important new objects. Our search through two separate pipelines led to the independent discovery of K2-19b & c, a two-planet system of Neptune sized objects (4.2 and 7.2 $R_oplus$), orbiting a K dwarf extremely close to the 3:2 mean motion resonance. The two planets each show transits, sometimes simultaneously due to their proximity to resonance and alignment of conjunctions. We obtain further ground based photometry of the larger planet with the NITES telescope, demonstrating the presence of large transit timing variations (TTVs), and use the observed TTVs to place mass constraints on the transiting objects under the hypothesis that the objects are near but not in resonance. We then statistically validate the planets through the texttt{PASTIS} tool, independently of the TTV analysis.
We have created a catalogue of variable stars found from a search of the publicly available K2 mission data from Campaigns 1 and 0. This catalogue provides the identifiers of 8395 variable stars, including 199 candidate eclipsing binaries with period
s up to 60d and 3871 periodic or quasi-periodic objects, with periods up to 20d for Campaign 1 and 15d for Campaign 0. Lightcurves are extracted and detrended from the available data. These are searched using a combination of algorithmic and human classification, leading to a classifier for each object as an eclipsing binary, sinusoidal periodic, quasi periodic, or aperiodic variable. The source of the variability is not identified, but could arise in the non-eclipsing binary cases from pulsation or stellar activity. Each object is cross-matched against variable star related guest observer proposals to the K2 mission, which specifies the variable type in some cases. The detrended lightcurves are also compared to lightcurves currently publicly available. The resulting catalogue is made available online via the MAST archive at https://archive.stsci.edu/prepds/k2varcat/, and gives the ID, type, period, semi-amplitude and range of the variation seen. We also make available the detrended lightcurves for each object.
We present here the first observationally based determination of the rate of occurrence of circumbinary planets. This is derived from the publicly available Kepler data, using an automated search algorithm and debiasing process to produce occurrence
rates implied by the seven systems already known. These rates depend critically on the planetary inclination distribution: if circumbinary planets are preferentially coplanar with their host binaries, as has been suggested, then the rate of occurrence of planets with $R_p>6R_oplus$ orbiting with $P_p<300$ d is $10.0 ^{+18}_{-6.5}$% (95% confidence limits), higher than but consistent with single star rates. If on the other hand the underlying planetary inclination distribution is isotropic, then this occurrence rate rises dramatically, to give a lower limit of 47%. This implies that formation and subsequent dynamical evolution in circumbinary disks must either lead to largely coplanar planets, or proceed with significantly greater ease than in circumstellar disks. As a result of this investigation we also show that giant planets (${>}10R_oplus$) are significantly less common in circumbinary orbits than their smaller siblings, and confirm that the proposed shortfall of circumbinary planets orbiting the shorter period binaries in the Kepler sample is a real effect.
We present an efficient analytical method to predict the maximum transit timing variations of a circumbinary exoplanet, given some basic parameters of the host binary. We derive an analytical model giving limits on the potential location of transits
for coplanar planets orbiting eclipsing binaries, then test it against numerical N-body simulations of a distribution of binaries and planets. We also show the application of the analytic model to Kepler-16b, -34b and -35b. The resulting method is fast, efficient and is accurate to approximately 1% in predicting limits on possible times of transits over a three-year observing campaign. The model can easily be used to, for example, place constraints on transit timing while performing circumbinary planet searches on large datasets. It is adaptable to use in situations where some or many of the planet and binary parameters are unknown.
We present an early result from an automated search of Kepler eclipsing binary systems for circumbinary companions. An intriguing tertiary signal has been discovered in the short period eclipsing binary KIC002856960. This third body leads to transit-
like features in the light curve occurring every 204.2 days, while the two other components of the system display eclipses on a 6.2 hour period. The variations due to the tertiary body last for a duration of sim1.26 days, or 4.9 binary orbital periods. During each crossing of the binary orbit with the tertiary body, multiple individual transits are observed as the close binary stars repeatedly move in and out of alignment with the tertiary object. We are at this stage unable to distinguish between a planetary companion to a close eclipsing binary, or a hierarchical triply eclipsing system of three stars. Both possibilities are explored, and the light curves presented.
