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Register a new userA Debris Disk around the Central Star of the Helix Nebula?
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Kate Y. L. Su
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Excess emission from a point-like source coincident with the central star of the Helix Nebula is detected with Spitzer at 8, 24, and 70 um. At 24 um, the central source is superposed on an extended diffuse emission region. While the [OIV] 25.89 um line contributes to the diffuse emission, a 10-35 um spectrum of the central source shows a strong thermal continuum. The excess emission from the star most likely originates from a dust disk with blackbody temperatures of 90--130 K. Assuming a simple optically thin debris disk model, the dust is distributed in a ring between ~35 and ~150 AU from the central star, possibly arising from collisions of Kuiper-Belt-like Objects or the break-up of comets from an Oort-like cloud that have survived from the post-main-sequence evolution of the central star.
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We present resolved scattered-light images of the debris disk around HD 107146, a G2 star 28.5 pc from the Sun. This is the first debris disk to be resolved in scattered light around a solar-type star. We observed it with the HST/ACS coronagraph, using a 1.8 occulting spot and the F606W (broad V) and F814W (broad I) filters. Within 2 from the star, the image is dominated by PSF subtraction residuals. Outside this limit, the disk looks featureless except for a northeast-southwest brightness asymmetry that we attribute to forward scattering. The disk has scattered-light fractional luminosities of $(L_{Sca}/L_*)_{F606W}=6.8 pm 0.8 times 10^{-5}$ and $(L_{Sca}/L_*)_{F814W}=10 pm 1 times 10^{-5}$ and it is detected up to 6.5 away from the star. To map the surface density of the disk, we deproject it by $25^circ pm 5^circ$, divide by the dust scattering phase ($g_{F606W} = 0.3 pm 0.1$, $g_{F814W} = 0.2 pm 0.1$) and correct for the geometric dilution of starlight. Within the errors, the surface density has the same shape in each bandpass, and it appears to be a broad (85 AU) ring with most of the opacity concentrated at 130 AU. The ratio of the relative luminosity in F814W to that in F606W has the constant value of $1.3pm0.3$, with the error dominated by uncertainties in the value of $g$ in each filter. An examination of far infrared and submillimeter measurements suggests the presence of small grains. The colors and the derived values of $g$ are consistent with the presence of dust particles smaller than the radiation pressure limit. The dust generated by the creation of a small planet or the scattering and circularization of a large one, are possible scenarios that may explain the shape of the surface density profile.
Recently, a new planet candidate was discovered on direct images around the young (10-17 Myr) A-type star HD95086. The strong infrared excess of the system indicates that, similarly to HR8799, {ss} Pic, and Fomalhaut, the star harbors a circumstellar disk. Aiming to study the structure and gas content of the HD95086 disk, and to investigate its possible interaction with the newly discovered planet, here we present new optical, infrared and millimeter observations. We detected no CO emission, excluding the possibility of an evolved gaseous primordial disk. Simple blackbody modeling of the spectral energy distribution suggests the presence of two spatially separate dust belts at radial distances of 6 and 64 AU. Our resolved images obtained with the Herschel Space Observatory reveal a characteristic disk size of ~6.0x5.4 arcsec (540x490 AU) and disk inclination of ~25 degree. Assuming the same inclination for the planet candidates orbit, its re-projected radial distance from the star is 62 AU, very close to the blackbody radius of the outer cold dust ring. The structure of the planetary system at HD95086 resembles the one around HR8799. Both systems harbor a warm inner dust belt and a broad colder outer disk and giant planet(s) between the two dusty regions. Modelling implies that the candidate planet can dynamically excite the motion of planetesimals even out to 270 AU via their secular perturbation if its orbital eccentricity is larger than about 0.4. Our analysis adds a new example to the three known systems where directly imaged planet(s) and debris disks co-exist.
Pulsars are rotating, magnetized neutron stars that are born in supernova explosions following the collapse of the cores of massive stars. If some of the explosion ejecta fails to escape, it may fall back onto the neutron star or it may possess sufficient angular momentum to form a disk. Such fallback is both a general prediction of current supernova models and, if the material pushes the neutron star over its stability limit, a possible mode of black hole formation. Fallback disks could dramatically affect the early evolution of pulsars, yet there are few observational constraints on whether significant fallback occurs or even the actual existence of such disks. Here we report the discovery of mid-infrared emission from a cool disk around an isolated young X-ray pulsar. The disk does not power the pulsars X-ray emission but is passively illuminated by these X-rays. The estimated mass of the disk is of order 10 Earth masses, and its lifetime (at least a million years) significantly exceeds the spin-down age of the pulsar, supporting a supernova fallback origin. The disk resembles protoplanetary disks seen around ordinary young stars, suggesting the possibility of planet formation around young neutron stars.
We have obtained a full suite of Spitzer observations to characterize the debris disk around HR 8799 and to explore how its properties are related to the recently discovered set of three massive planets orbiting the star. We distinguish three components to the debris system: (1) warm dust (T ~150 K) orbiting within the innermost planet; (2) a broad zone of cold dust (T ~45 K) with a sharp inner edge, orbiting just outside the outermost planet and presumably sculpted by it; and (3) a dramatic halo of small grains originating in the cold dust component. The high level of dynamical activity implied by this halo may arise due to enhanced gravitational stirring by the massive planets. The relatively young age of HR 8799 places it in an important early stage of development and may provide some help in understanding the interaction of planets and planetary debris, an important process in the evolution of our own solar system.
AU Microscopii (AU Mic) is the second closest pre main sequence star, at a distance of 9.79 parsecs and with an age of 22 million years. AU Mic possesses a relatively rare and spatially resolved3 edge-on debris disk extending from about 35 to 210 astronomical units from the star, and with clumps exhibiting non-Keplerian motion. Detection of newly formed planets around such a star is challenged by the presence of spots, plage, flares and other manifestations of magnetic activity on the star. Here we report observations of a planet transiting AU Mic. The transiting planet, AU Mic b, has an orbital period of 8.46 days, an orbital distance of 0.07 astronomical units, a radius of 0.4 Jupiter radii, and a mass of less than 0.18 Jupiter masses at 3 sigma confidence. Our observations of a planet co-existing with a debris disk offer the opportunity to test the predictions of current models of planet formation and evolution.
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