SaNDi-SHoP: Searching for Satellites’N’Disks with a Star-Hopping Program

Over the past decade, advances in high-contrast imaging and extreme adaptive optics have enabled the discovery of planets and brown dwarfs orbiting at wide separations from their host stars, challenging current planet-formation paradigms. We present SaNDi-SHoP, a VLT/SPHERE star-hopping survey aimed at the search for satellites and circumplanetary disks around direct imaged companions. Our sample comprises thirteen planetary-mass and brown dwarf companions observed between June 2023 and July 2025. The survey also provides updated near-infrared photometry, new high-precision astrometry, and low-resolution IFS spectra for GQ Lup B, PZ Tel B, and HD 984 B.  We identify extended residuals around TYC 8047-232-1 B consistent with a possible 3-6 Jupiter masses satellite companion, and marginal residuals at the location of the previously proposed candidate around DH Tau b, compatible with a 1 Jupiter mass satellite. Our analysis generally excludes companions more massive than a few Jupiter masses beyond 1-5 au. Combining our astrometry with literature measurements, we derive updated orbital solutions for all systems, including the first orbital fits for CT Cha b, HIP 78530 B, HIP 64892 B, and RX J1609.5–2105 b. The updated orbital constraints favor eccentric, non-circular orbits for most companions, supporting formation scenarios involving gravitational instability or molecular cloud fragmentation. Alternatively, the observed eccentricities may result from dynamical interactions and planet–planet scattering.