Program: GN-2020B-Q-314

We propose a high-resolution speckle imaging study of close (<100AU) stellar companions to K2 exoplanet host stars. Despite the dynamical barriers caused by the presence of a stellar companion, many exoplanets have been found in binary systems. However, studies regarding whether exoplanets occur in binary systems as often as single stars have produced conflicting results. Close companions, in particular, are thought to be suppressed in systems with transiting exoplanets. Speckle imaging studies that look for stellar companions to exoplanet host stars in order to validate and characterize exoplanets have detected companions around ~30% of host stars. Continued monitoring of a sample of close stellar companions, only possible with the sensitivity of Gemini + `Alopeke, will elucidate the role of stellar companions in planet formation and, with additional speckle observations, enable orbital solutions that may provide insight into how some close binary systems are able to maintain planetary populations.