Atmospheric Characterization and Further Orbital Modeling of κ Andromeda b

Abstract

We present kappa Andromeda b's photometry and astrometry taken with Subaru/SCExAO+HiCIAO and Keck/NIRC2, combined with recently published SCExAO/CHARIS low-resolution spectroscopy and published thermal infrared photometry to further constrain the companion's atmospheric properties and orbit. The Y/Y-K colors of kappa And b are redder than field dwarfs, consistent with its youth and lower gravity. Empirical comparisons of its Y-band photometry and CHARIS spectrum to a large spectral library of isolated field dwarfs reaffirm the conclusion from Currie et al. that it likely has a low gravity but admit a wider range of most plausible spectral types (L0-L2). Our gravitational classification also suggests that the best-fit objects for kappa And b may have lower gravity than those previously reported. Atmospheric models lacking dust/clouds fail to reproduce its entire 1-4.7 mu m spectral energy distribution (SED), and cloudy atmosphere models with temperatures of similar to 1700-2000 K better match kappa And b data. Most well-fitting model comparisons favor 1700-1900 K, a surface gravity of log(g) similar to 4-4.5, and a radius of 1.3-1.6 R-Jup; the best-fit model (Drift-Phoenix) yields the coolest and lowest-gravity values: T-eff = 1700 K and log g = 4.0. An update to kappa And b's orbit with ExoSOFT using new astrometry spanning 7 yr reaffirms its high eccentricity (0.77 0.08). We consider a scenario where unseen companions are responsible for scattering kappa And b to a wide separation and high eccentricity. If three planets, including kappa And b, were born with coplanar orbits, and one of them was ejected by gravitational scattering, a potential inner companion with mass greater than or similar to 10 M-Jup could be located at less than or similar to 25 au.