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Register a new userMid-infrared resolution of a 3 AU-radius debris disk around Zeta Leporis
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We present subarcsecond-resolution mid-infrared images of the debris disk surrounding the 230 Myr- old A star Zeta Lep. Our data obtained with T-ReCS at Gemini South show the source to be unresolved at 10.4 microns but clearly extended at 18.3 microns. Quadratic subtraction of the PSF profile from that of Zeta Lep implies a characteristic radius for the dust disk of 3 AU, which is comparable in size to our solar systems asteroid belt. Simple models suggest that the 18 micron flux is well approximated by two contiguous annuli of mid-infrared-emitting dust from 2-4 and 4-8 AU with a 3:1 flux ratio for the annuli, respectively. We consider two scenarios for the collisions that must be resupplying the dust population: (1) continuous steady state grinding of planetesimals, and (2) an isolated cataclysmic collision. We determine that radiation pressure and subsequent collisions are the dominant determinants of the disk morphology in either case, and that Poynting-Robertson drag is comparatively insignificant.
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We report the discovery of a circumstellar disk around the young A0 star, HR 4796, in thermal infrared imaging carried out at the W.M. Keck Observatory. By fitting a model of the emission from a flat dusty disk to an image at lambda=20.8 microns, we derive a disk inclination, i = 72 +6/-9 deg from face on, with the long axis of emission at PA 28 +/-6 deg. The intensity of emission does not decrease with radius as expected for circumstellar disks but increases outward from the star, peaking near both ends of the elongated structure. We simulate this appearance by varying the inner radius in our model and find an inner hole in the disk with radius R_in = 55+/-15 AU. This value corresponds to the radial distance of our own Kuiper belt and may suggest a source of dust in the collision of cometesimals. By contrast with the appearance at 20.8 microns, excess emission at lambda = 12.5 microns is faint and concentrated at the stellar position. Similar emission is also detected at 20.8 microns in residual subtraction of the best-fit model from the image. The intensity and ratio of flux densities at the two wavelengths could be accounted for by a tenuous dust component that is confined within a few AU of the star with mean temperature of a few hundred degrees K, similar to that of zodiacal dust in our own solar system. The morphology of dust emission from HR 4796 (age 10 Myr) suggests that its disk is in a transitional planet-forming stage, between that of massive gaseous proto-stellar disks and more tenuous debris disks such as the one detected around Vega.
HST/NICMOS PSF-subtracted coronagraphic observations of HD 181327 have revealed the presence of a ring-like disk of circumstellar debris seen in 1.1 micron light scattered by the disk grains, surrounded by a di use outer region of lower surface brightness. The annular disk appears to be inclined by 31.7 +/- 1.6 deg from face on with the disk major axis PA at 107 +/-2 deg . The total 1.1 micron flux density of the light scattered by the disk (at 1.2 < r < 5.0) of 9.6 mJy +/- 0.8 mJy is 0.17% +/- 0.015% of the starlight. Seventy percent of the light from the scattering grains appears to be confined in a 36 AU wide annulus centered on the peak of the radial surface brightness (SB) profile 86.3 +/- 3.9 AU from the star, well beyond the characteristic radius of thermal emission estimated from IRAS and Spitzer flux densities assuming blackbody grains (~ 22 AU). The light scattered by the ring appears bilaterally symmetric, exhibits directionally preferential scattering well represented by a Henyey-Greenstein scattering phase function with g = 0.30 +/- 0.03, and has an azimuthally medianed SB at the 86.3 AU radius of peak SB of 1.00 +/- 0.07 mJy arcsec^-2. No photocentric offset is seen in the ring relative to the position of the central star. A low surface brightness diffuse halo is seen in the NICMOS image to a distance of ~ 4 Deeper 0.6 micron HST/ACS PSF-subtracted coronagraphic observations reveal a faint outer nebulosity, asymmetrically brighter to the North of the star. We discuss models of the disk and properties of its grains, from which we infer a maximum vertical scale height of 4 - 8 AU at the 87.6 AU radius of maximum surface density, and a total maximum dust mass of collisionally replenished grains with minimum grain sizes of ~ 1 micron of ~ 4 M(moon).
We report spectra obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope in the wavelength range between 14 microns and 35 microns of 19 nearby main-sequence stars with infrared excesses. The six stars with strong dust emission show no recognizable spectral features, suggesting that the bulk of the emitting particles have diameters larger than 10 microns. If the observed dust results from collisional grinding of larger solids, we infer minimum masses of the parent body population between 0.004 of the Earths mass and 0.06 of the Earths mass. We estimate grain production rates of 10 Gg/s around lambda Boo and HR 1570; selective accretion of this matter may help explain their peculiar surface abundances. There appear to be inner truncations in the dust clouds at 48 AU, 11 AU, 52 AU and 54 AU around HR 333, HR 506, HR 1082 and HR 3927, respectively.
We present a Subaru/IRCS H-band image of the edge-on debris disk around the F2V star HD 15115. We detected the debris disk, which has a bow shape and an asymmetric surface brightness, at a projected separation of 1--3 (~50--150 AU). The disk surface brightness is ~0.5--1.5 mag brighter on the western side than on the eastern side. We use an inclined annulus disk model to probe the disk geometry. The model fitting suggests that the disk has an inner hole with a radius of 86 AU and an eccentricity of 0.06. The disk model also indicates that the amount of dust on the western side is 2.2 times larger than that on the eastern side. A several Jupiter-mass planet may exist at $gtrsim$45 AU and capture grains at the Lagrangian points to open the eccentric gap. This scenario can explain both the eccentric gap and the difference in the amount of dust. In case of the stellar age of several 100 Myr, a dramatic planetesimal collision possibly causes the dust to increase in the western side. Interstellar medium interaction is also considered as a possible explanation of the asymmetric surface brightness, however, it hardly affect large grains in the vicinity of the inner hole.
We present far-infrared and submillimeter maps from the Herschel Space Observatory and the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope of the debris disk host star AU Microscopii. Disk emission is detected at 70, 160, 250, 350, 450, 500 and 850 micron. The disk is resolved at 70, 160 and 450 micron. In addition to the planetesimal belt, we detect thermal emission from AU Mics halo for the first time. In contrast to the scattered light images, no asymmetries are evident in the disk. The fractional luminosity of the disk is $3.9 times 10^{-4}$ and its mm-grain dust mass is 0.01 MEarth (+/- 20%). We create a simple spatial model that reconciles the disk SED as a blackbody of 53 +/- 2 K (a composite of 39 and 50 K components) and the presence of small (non-blackbody) grains which populate the extended halo. The best fit model is consistent with the birth ring model explored in earlier works, i.e., an edge-on dust belt extending from 8.8-40 AU, but with an additional halo component with an $r^{-1.5}$ surface density profile extending to the limits of sensitivity (140 AU). We confirm that AU Mic does not exert enough radiation force to blow out grains. For stellar mass loss rates of 10-100x solar, compact (zero porosity) grains can only be removed if they are very small, consistently with previous work, if the porosity is 0.9, then grains approaching 0.1 micron can be removed via corpuscular forces (i.e., the stellar wind).
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