The SPHERE infrared survey for exoplanets (SHINE)

I. Sample definition and target characterization^★

¹ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Padova, Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 5, 35122 Padova, Italy
e-mail: silvano.desidera@oapd.inaf.it
² Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, 38000 Grenoble, France
³ SUPA, Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
⁴ Centre for Exoplanet Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
⁵ INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania, Via S. Sofia 78, 95123, Catania, Italy
⁶ Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, CNES, LAM, Marseille, France
⁷ Hamburger Sternwarte, Gojenbergsweg 112, 21029 Hamburg, Germany
⁸ LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université de Paris, 5 place Jules Janssen, 92195 Meudon, France
⁹ Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia Galileo Galilei, Universitá di Padova, Vicolo dell’Osservatorio 3, 35122, Padova, Italy
¹⁰ Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
¹¹ Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics, ETH Zurich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 27, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
¹² Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics Laboratory, Code 667, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 8800 Greenbelt Rd., Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
¹³ Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
¹⁴ Geneva Observatory, University of Geneva, Chemin des Mailettes 51, 1290 Versoix, Switzerland
¹⁵ CRAL, CNRS, Université Lyon 1, Université de Lyon, ENS, 9 avenue Charles Andre, 69561 Saint Genis Laval, France
¹⁶ Perth Exoplanet Survey Telescope, Western Australia, Australia
¹⁷ Remote Observatory Atacama Desert, Chile
¹⁸ York Creek Observatory, Georgetown, Tasmania, Australia
¹⁹ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, Salita Moiariello 16, 80131 Napoli, Italy
²⁰ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo, Piazza del Parlamento, 1, 90134 Palermo, Italy
²¹ College of Charleston, Department of Physics & Astronomy, 66 George St, Charleston, SC 29424, USA
²² Department of Astronomy, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
²³ Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, Science Park 9, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
²⁴ Center for Space and Habitability, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
²⁵ Université Cote d’Azur, OCA, CNRS, Lagrange, France
²⁶ INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Brera, Via E. Bianchi 46, 23807 Merate, Italy
²⁷ STAR Institute, University of Liège, Allée du Six Août 19c, 4000 Liège, Belgium
²⁸ Núcleo de Astronomía, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Diego Portales, Av. Ejercito 441, Santiago, Chile
²⁹ Escuela de Ingeniería Industrial, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Diego Portales, Av. Ejercito 441, Santiago, Chile
³⁰ DKFZ, Heidelberg, Germany
³¹ Ural Federal University, Yekaterinburg 620002, Russia
³² INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri Largo Enrico Fermi 5, 50125 Firenze, Italy
³³ ONERA (Office National dEtudes et de Recherches Arospatiales), B.P.72, 92322 Chatillon, France
³⁴ European Southern Observatory (ESO), Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2, 85748 Garching, Germany
³⁵ NOVA Optical Infrared Instrumentation Group, Oude Hoogeveensedijk 4, 7991 PD Dwingeloo, The Netherlands

Received: 1 July 2020
Accepted: 3 February 2021

Abstract

Context. Large surveys with new-generation high-contrast imaging instruments are needed to derive the frequency and properties of exoplanet populations with separations from ~5 to 300 au. A careful assessment of the stellar properties is crucial for a proper understanding of when, where, and how frequently planets form, and how they evolve. The sensitivity of detection limits to stellar age makes this a key parameter for direct imaging surveys.

Aims. We describe the SpHere INfrared survey for Exoplanets (SHINE), the largest direct imaging planet-search campaign initiated at the VLT in 2015 in the context of the SPHERE Guaranteed Time Observations of the SPHERE consortium. In this first paper we present the selection and the properties of the complete sample of stars surveyed with SHINE, focusing on the targets observed during the first phase of the survey (from February 2015 to February 2017). This early sample composed of 150 stars is used to perform a preliminary statistical analysis of the SHINE data, deferred to two companion papers presenting the survey performance, main discoveries, and the preliminary statistical constraints set by SHINE.

Methods. Based on a large database collecting the stellar properties of all young nearby stars in the solar vicinity (including kinematics, membership to moving groups, isochrones, lithium abundance, rotation, and activity), we selected the original sample of 800 stars that were ranked in order of priority according to their sensitivity for planet detection in direct imaging with SPHERE. The properties of the stars that are part of the early statistical sample wererevisited, including for instance measurements from the Gaia Data Release 2. Rotation periods were derived for the vast majority of the late-type objects exploiting TESS light curves and dedicated photometric observations.

Results. The properties of individual targets and of the sample as a whole are presented.