No Arabic abstract
We present ALMA 1.3 mm (230 GHz) observations of the HD 32297 and HD 61005 debris disks, two of the most iconic debris disks due to their dramatic swept-back wings seen in scattered light images. These observations achieve sensitivities of 14 and 13 $mu$Jy beam$^{-1}$ for HD 32297 and HD 61005, respectively, and provide the highest resolution images of these two systems at millimeter wavelengths to date. By adopting a MCMC modeling approach, we determine that both disks are best described by a two-component model consisting of a broad ($Delta R/R> 0.4$) planetesimal belt with a rising surface density gradient, and a steeply falling outer halo aligned with the scattered light disk. The inner and outer edges of the planetesimal belt are located at $78.5pm8.1$ AU and $122pm3$ AU for HD 32297, and $41.9pm0.9$ AU and $67.0pm0.5$ AU for HD 61005. The halos extend to $440pm32$ AU and $188pm8$ AU, respectively. We also detect $^{12}$CO J$=2-1$ gas emission from HD 32297 co-located with the dust continuum. These new ALMA images provide observational evidence that larger, millimeter-sized grains may also populate the extended halos of these two disks previously thought to only be composed of small, micron-sized grains. We discuss the implications of these results for potential shaping and sculpting mechanisms of asymmetric debris disks.
Previous observations revealed the existence of CO gas at nearly protoplanetary level in several dust-rich debris disks around young A-type stars. Here we used the ALMA 7m-array to measure $^{13}$CO and C$^{18}$O emission toward two debris disks, 49 Cet and HD 32297, and detected similarly high CO content ($>$0.01M$_oplus$). These high CO masses imply a highly efficient shielding of CO molecules against stellar and interstellar ultraviolet photons. Adapting a recent secondary gas disk model that considers both shielding by carbon atoms and self-shielding of CO, we can explain the observed CO level in both systems. Based on the derived gas densities we suggest that, in the HD 32297 disk, dust and gas are coupled and the dynamics of small grains is affected by the gaseous component. For 49 Cet, the question of coupling remains undecided. We found that the main stellar and disk propertiesof 49 Cet and HD 32297 are very similar to those of previously identified debris disks with high CO content. These objects constitute together the first known representatives of shielded debris disks.
We present an adaptive optics imaging detection of the HD 32297 debris disk at L (3.8 microns) obtained with the LBTI/LMIRcam infrared instrument at the LBT. The disk is detected at signal-to-noise per resolution element ~ 3-7.5 from ~ 0.3-1.1 (30-120 AU). The disk at L is bowed, as was seen at shorter wavelengths. This likely indicates the disk is not perfectly edge-on and contains highly forward scattering grains. Interior to ~ 50 AU, the surface brightness at L rises sharply on both sides of the disk, which was also previously seen at Ks band. This evidence together points to the disk containing a second inner component located at $lesssim$ 50 AU. Comparing the color of the outer (50 $< r$/AU $< 120$) portion of the disk at L with archival HST/NICMOS images of the disk at 1-2 microns allows us to test the recently proposed cometary grains model of Donaldson et al. 2013. We find that the model fails to match the disks surface brightness and spectrum simultaneously (reduced chi-square = 17.9). When we modify the density distribution of the model disk, we obtain a better overall fit (reduced chi-square = 2.9). The best fit to all of the data is a pure water ice model (reduced chi-square = 1.06), but additional resolved imaging at 3.1 microns is necessary to constrain how much (if any) water ice exists in the disk, which can then help refine the originally proposed cometary grains model.
We present high-contrast angular differential imaging (ADI) observations of the debris disk around HD 32297 in H-band, as well as the first polarimetric images for this system in polarized differential imaging (PDI) mode with Subaru/HICIAO. In ADI, we detect the nearly edge-on disk at >5sigma levels from ~0.45 arcsec to ~1.7 arcsec (50-192 AU) from the star and recover the spine deviation from the midplane already found in previous works. We also find for the first time imaging and surface brightness (SB) indications for the presence of a gapped structure on both sides of the disk at distances of ~0.75 arcsec (NE side) and ~0.65 arcsec (SW side). Global forward-modelling work delivers a best-fit model disk and well-fitting parameter intervals that essentially match previous results, with high-forward scattering grains and a ring located at 110 AU. However, this single ring model cannot account for the gapped structure seen in our SB profiles. We create simple double ring models and achieve a satisfactory fit with two rings located at 60 and 95 AU, respectively, low-forward scattering grains and very sharp inner slopes. In polarized light we retrieve the disk extending from ~0.25-1.6 arcsec, although the central region is quite noisy and high S/N are only found in the range ~0.75-1.2 arcsec. The disk is polarized in the azimuthal direction, as expected, and the departure from the midplane is also clearly observed. Evidence for a gapped scenario is not found in the PDI data. We obtain a linear polarization degree of the grains that increases from ~10% at 0.55 arcsec to ~25% at 1.6 arcsec. The maximum is found at scattering angles of ~90degrees, either from the main components of the disk or from dust grains blown out to larger radii.
We present Hubble Space Telescope optical coronagraphic polarization imaging observations of the dusty debris disk HD 61005. The scattered light intensity image and polarization structure reveal a highly inclined disk with a clear asymmetric, swept back component, suggestive of significant interaction with the ambient interstellar medium. The combination of our new data with the published 1.1 micron discovery image shows that the grains are blue scattering with no strong color gradient as a function of radius, implying predominantly sub-micron sized grains. We investigate possible explanations that could account for the observed swept back, asymmetric morphology. Previous work has suggested that HD 61005 may be interacting with a cold, unusually dense interstellar cloud. However, limits on the intervening interstellar gas column density from an optical spectrum of HD 61005 in the Na I D lines render this possibility unlikely. Instead, HD 61005 may be embedded in a more typical warm, low-density cloud that introduces secular perturbations to dust grain orbits. This mechanism can significantly distort the ensemble disk structure within a typical cloud crossing time. For a counterintuitive relative flow direction--parallel to the disk midplane--we find that the structures generated by these distortions can very roughly approximate the HD 61005 morphology. Future observational studies constraining the direction of the relative interstellar medium flow will thus provide an important constraint for future modeling. Independent of the interpretation for HD 61005, we expect that interstellar gas drag likely plays a role in producing asymmetries observed in other debris disk systems, such as HD 15115 and Delta-Velorum.
Asteroids and comets (planetesimals) are created in gas- and dust-rich protoplanetary discs. The presence of these planetesimals around main-sequence stars is usually inferred from the detection of excess continuum emission at infrared wavelengths from dust grains produced by destructive processes within these discs. Modelling of the disc structure and dust grain properties for those discs is often hindered by the absence of any meaningful constraint on the location and spatial extent of the disc. Multi-wavelength, spatially resolved imaging is thus invaluable in refining the interpretation of these systems. Observations of HD 48682 at far-infrared (Spitzer,Herschel) and sub-millimetre (JCMT, SMA) wavelengths indicated the presence of an extended, cold debris disc with a blackbody temperature of 57.9 +- 0.7 K. Here, we combined these data to perform a comprehensive study of the disc architecture and its implications for the dust grain properties. The deconvolved images revealed a cold debris belt, verified by combining a 3D radiative transfer dust continuum model with image analysis to replicate thestructure using a single, axisymmetric annulus. A Markov chain Monte Carlo analysis calculated the maximum likelihood of HD 48682s disc radius (Rdisc = 89 +17 -20 au), fractional width(DeltaRdisc = 0.41 +0.27 -0.20), position angle (theta = 66.3 +4.5 -4.9 degrees), and inclination (phi = 112.5 +4.2 -4.2 degrees). HD 48682 has been revealed to host a collisionally active, broad disc whose emission is dominated by small dust grains, smin approx. 0.6 microns, and a size distribution exponent of 3.60 +- 0.02.