Context. The direct detection and characterization of planetary and substellar companions at small angular separations is a rapidly advancing field. Dedicated high-contrast imaging instruments deliver unprecedented sensitivity, enabling detailed insights into the atmospheres of young low-mass companions. In addition, improvements in data reduction and point spread function(PSF)-subtraction algorithms are equally relevant for maximizing the scientific yield, both from new and archival data sets. Aims. We aim at developing a generic and modular data-reduction pipeline for processing and analysis of high-contrast imaging data obtained with pupil-stabilized observations. The package should be scalable and robust for future implementations and particularly suitable for the 3-5 µm wavelength range where typically thousands of frames have to be processed and an accurate subtraction of the thermal background emission is critical. Methods. PynPoint is written in Python 2.7 and applies various image-processing techniques, as well as statistical tools for analyzing the data, building on open-source Python packages. The current version of PynPoint has evolved from an earlier version that was developed as a PSF-subtraction tool based on principal component analysis (PCA).Results. The architecture of PynPoint has been redesigned with the core functionalities decoupled from the pipeline modules. Modules have been implemented for dedicated processing and analysis steps, including background subtraction, frame registration, PSF subtraction, photometric and astrometric measurements, and estimation of detection limits. The pipeline package enables end-to-end data reduction of pupil-stabilized data and supports classical dithering and coronagraphic data sets. As an example, we processed archival VLT/NACO L and M data of β Pic b and reassessed the brightness and position of the planet with a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) analysis; we also provide a derivation of the photometric error budget. Pipelinereading module writing module processing module processing module processing module front end back end data management computational resource management PynPoint toolbox input data output data Input Control of database connection DataIO Central database data sets (e.g. images, analysis results) attributes (e.g. pixel scale, dither position) Abstract interface for ports between pipeline modules and database Pipeline interface Processing Port types Pypeline PypelineModule ReadingModule WritingModule ProcessingModule Abstract interface for pipeline modules Abstract interfaces for different module types Front end Back end

The circumstellar disk of PDS 70 hosts two forming planets, which are actively accreting gas from their environment. The physical and chemical characteristics of these planets remain ambiguous due to their unusual spectral appearance compared to more evolved objects. In this work, we report the first detection of PDS 70 b in the Brα and M′ filters with VLT/NACO, a tentative detection of PDS 70 c in Brα, and a reanalysis of archival NACO L′ and SPHERE H23 and K12 imaging data. The near side of the disk is also resolved with the Brα and M′ filters, indicating that scattered light is non-negligible at these wavelengths. The spectral energy distribution (SED) of PDS 70 b is well described by blackbody emission, for which we constrain the photospheric temperature and photospheric radius to Teff = 1193 ± 20 K and R = 3.0 ± 0.2 RJ. The relatively low bolometric luminosity, log(L∕L⊙) = −3.79 ± 0.02, in combination with the large radius, is not compatible with standard structure models of fully convective objects. With predictions from such models, and adopting a recent estimate of the accretion rate, we derive a planetary mass and radius in the range of Mp ≈ 0.5–1.5 MJ and Rp ≈ 1–2.5 RJ, independently of the age and post-formation entropy of the planet. The blackbody emission, large photospheric radius, and the discrepancy between the photospheric and planetary radius suggests that infrared observations probe an extended, dusty environment around the planet, which obscures the view on its molecular composition. Therefore, the SED is expected to trace the reprocessed radiation from the interior of the planet and/or partially from the accretion shock. The photospheric radius lies deep within the Hill sphere of the planet, which implies that PDS 70 b not only accretes gas but is also continuously replenished by dust. Finally, we derive a rough upper limit on the temperature and radius of potential excess emission from a circumplanetary disk, Teff ≲ 256 K and R ≲ 245 RJ, but we do find weak evidence that the current data favors a model with a single blackbody component.

Context. In recent years, our understanding of giant planet formation progressed substantially. There have even been detections of a few young protoplanet candidates still embedded in the circumstellar disks of their host stars. The exact physics that describes the accretion of material from the circumstellar disk onto the suspected circumplanetary disk and eventually onto the young, forming planet is still an open question. Aims. We seek to detect and quantify observables related to accretion processes occurring locally in circumstellar disks, which could be attributed to young forming planets. We focus on objects known to host protoplanet candidates and/or disk structures thought to be the result of interactions with planets. Methods. We analyzed observations of six young stars (age 3.5 − 10 Myr) and their surrounding environments with the SPHERE/ZIMPOL instrument on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in the Hα filter (656 nm) and a nearby continuum filter (644.9 nm). We applied several point spread function (PSF) subtraction techniques to reach the highest possible contrast near the primary star, specifically investigating regions where forming companions were claimed or have been suggested based on observed disk morphology. Results. We redetect the known accreting M-star companion HD142527 B with the highest published signal to noise to date in both Hα and the continuum. We derive new astrometry (r = 62.8 +2.1 −2.7 mas and PA = (98.7 ± 1.8) • ) and photometry (∆N_Ha=6.3 +0.2 −0.3 mag, ∆B_Ha=6.7 ± 0.2 mag and ∆Cnt_Ha=7.3 +0.3 −0.2 mag) for the companion in agreement with previous studies, and estimate its mass accretion rate (Ṁ ≈ 1 − 2 × 10 −10 M yr −1 ). A faint point-like source around HD135344 B (SAO206462) is also investigated, but a second deeper observation is required to reveal its nature. No other companions are detected. In the framework of our assumptions we estimate detection limits at the locations of companion candidates around HD100546, HD169142, and MWC 758 and calculate that processes involving Hα fluxes larger than ∼ 8 × 10 −14 − 10 −15 erg/s/cm 2 (Ṁ > 10 −10 − 10 −12 M yr −1 ) can be excluded. Furthermore, flux upper limits of ∼ 10 −14 − 10 −15 erg/s/cm 2 (Ṁ < 10 −11 − 10 −12 M yr −1 ) are estimated within the gaps identified in the disks surrounding HD135344 B and TW Hya. The derived luminosity limits exclude Hα signatures at levels similar to those previously detected for the accreting planet candidate LkCa15 b.

HIP 65426 b is a recently discovered exoplanet imaged during the course of the SPHERE-SHINE survey. Here we present new L and M observations of the planet from the NACO instrument at the VLT from the NACO-ISPY survey, as well as a new Y − H spectrum and K-band photometry from SPHERE-SHINE. Using these data, we confirm the nature of the companion as a warm, dusty planet with a mid-L spectral type. From comparison of its SED with the BT-Settl atmospheric models, we derive a best-fit effective temperature of T eff = 1618 ± 7 K, surface gravity log g = 3.78 +0.04 −0.03 and radius R = 1.17 ± 0.04 RJ (statistical uncertainties only). Using the DUSTY and COND isochrones we estimate a mass of 8 ± 1 MJ. Combining the astrometric measurements from our new datasets and from the literature, we show the first indications of orbital motion of the companion (2.6σ significance) and derive preliminary orbital constraints. We find a highly inclined orbit (i = 107 +13 −10 deg) with an orbital period of 800 +1200 −400 yr. We also report SPHERE sparse aperture masking observations that investigate the possibility that HIP 65426 b was scattered onto its current orbit by an additional companion at a smaller orbital separation. From this data we rule out the presence of brown dwarf companions with masses greater than 16 MJ at separations larger than 3 AU, significantly narrowing the parameter space for such a companion.

We present the highest fidelity spectrum to date of a planetary-mass object. VHS 1256 b is a <20 M Jup widely separated (∼8″, a = 150 au), young, planetary-mass companion that shares photometric colors and spectroscopic features with the directly imaged exoplanets HR 8799c, d, and e. As an L-to-T transition object, VHS 1256 b exists along the region of the color–magnitude diagram where substellar atmospheres transition from cloudy to clear. We observed VHS 1256 b with JWST's NIRSpec IFU and MIRI MRS modes for coverage from 1 to 20 μm at resolutions of ∼1000–3700. Water, methane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sodium, and potassium are observed in several portions of the JWST spectrum based on comparisons from template brown dwarf spectra, molecular opacities, and atmospheric models. The spectral shape of VHS 1256 b is influenced by disequilibrium chemistry and clouds. We directly detect silicate clouds, the first such detection reported for a planetary-mass companion.