High-resolution imaging of young M-type stars of the solar neighbourhood: probing for companions down to the mass of Jupiter

Abstract

Context. High-contrast imaging is a powerful technique when searching for gas giant planets and brown dwarfs orbiting at separations greater than several AU. Around solar-type stars, giant planets are expected to form by core accretion or by gravitational instability, but since core accretion is increasingly difficult as the primary star becomes lighter, gravitational instability would be a probable formation scenario for still-to-find distant giant planets around a low-mass star. A systematic survey for such planets around M dwarfs would therefore provide a direct test of the efficiency of gravitational instability.