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Register a new userHubble and Spitzer Observations of an Edge-on Circumstellar Disk around a Brown Dwarf
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We present observations of a circumstellar disk that is inclined close to edge-on around a young brown dwarf in the Taurus star-forming region. Using data obtained with SpeX at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, we find that the slope of the 0.8-2.5 um spectrum of the brown dwarf 2MASS J04381486+2611399 cannot be reproduced with a photosphere reddened by normal extinction. Instead, the slope is consistent with scattered light, indicating that circumstellar material is occulting the brown dwarf. By combining the SpeX data with mid-IR photometry and spectroscopy from the Spitzer Space Telescope and previously published millimeter data from Scholz and coworkers, we construct the spectral energy distribution for 2MASS J04381486+2611399 and model it in terms of a young brown dwarf surrounded by an irradiated accretion disk. The presence of both silicate absorption at 10 um and silicate emission at 11 um constrains the inclination of the disk to be ~70 deg, i.e. ~20 deg from edge-on. Additional evidence of the high inclination of this disk is provided by our detection of asymmetric bipolar extended emission surrounding 2MASS J04381486+2611399 in high-resolution optical images obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. According to our modeling for the SED and images of this system, the disk contains a large inner hole that is indicative of a transition disk (R_in~58 R_star~0.275 AU) and is somewhat larger than expected from embryo ejection models (R_out=20-40 AU vs. R_out<10-20 AU).
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We present the first high angular resolution 1.4mm and 2.7mm continuum maps of the T Tauri binary system HK Tau obtained with the Plateau de Bure Interferometer. The contributions of both components are well disentangled at 1.4mm and the star previously known to host an edge-on circumstellar disk, HK Tau B, is elongated along the disks major axis. The optically bright primary dominates the thermal emission from the system at both wavelengths, confirming that it also has its own circumstellar disk. Its non-detection in scattered light images indicates that the two disks in this binary system are not parallel. Our data further indicate that the circumprimary disk is probably significantly smaller than the circumsecondary disk. We model the millimeter thermal emission from the circumstellar disk surrounding HK Tau B. We show that the disk mass derived from scattered light images cannot reproduce the 1.4mm emission using opacities of the same population of submicron dust grains. However, grain growth alone cannot match all the observed properties of this disk. We propose that this disk contains three separate layers: two thin outer surfaces which contain dust grains that are very similar to those of the ISM, and a disk interior which is relatively massive and/or has experienced limited grain growth with the largest grains significantly smaller than 1mm. Such a structure could naturally result from dust settling in a protoplanetary disk.
We present submillimeter observations of the young brown dwarfs KPNO Tau 1, KPNO Tau 3, and KPNO Tau 6 at 450 micron and 850 micron taken with the Submillimeter Common-User Bolometer Array on the James Clerke Maxwell Telescope. KPNO Tau 3 and KPNO Tau 6 have been previously identified as Class II objects hosting accretion disks, whereas KPNO Tau 1 has been identified as a Class III object and shows no evidence of circumsubstellar material. Our 3 sigma detection of cold dust around KPNO Tau 3 implies a total disk mass of (4.0 +/- 1.1) x 10^{-4} Msolar (assuming a gas to dust ratio of 100:1). We place tight constraints on any disks around KPNO Tau 1 or KPNO Tau 6 of <2.1 x 10^{-4} Msolar and <2.7 x 10^{-4} Msolar, respectively. Modeling the spectral energy distribution of KPNO Tau 3 and its disk suggests the disk properties (geometry, dust mass, and grain size distribution) are consistent with observations of other brown dwarf disks and low-mass T-Tauri stars. In particular, the disk-to-host mass ratio for KPNO Tau 3 is congruent with the scenario that at least some brown dwarfs form via the same mechanism as low-mass stars.
MWC 930 is a star just ~2{deg} above the Galactic plane whose nature is not clear and that has not been studied in detail so far. While a post-Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) classification was proposed in the past, studies of its optical spectrum and photometry pointed toward strong variability, therefore the object was reclassified as a Luminous Blue Variable (LBV) candidate. LBVs typically undergo phases of strong mass loss in the form of eruptions that can create shells of ejecta around the star. Our goal is to search for the presence of such a circumstellar nebula in MWC 930 and investigate its properties. To do so, we make use of space-based infrared data from our Spitzer campaign performed with the InfraRed Array Camera (IRAC) and the InfraRed Spectrograph (IRS) as well as data from optical and infrared (IR) surveys. In our Spitzer images, we clearly detect an extended shell around MWC 930 at wavelengths longer than 5 um. The mid-infrared spectrum is dominated by the central star and mostly shows forbidden lines of [FeII], with an underlying continuum that decreases with wavelength up to ~15 um and then inverts its slope, displaying a second peak around 60 um, evidence for cold dust grains formed in a past eruption. By modeling the SED, we identify two central components, besides the star and the outer shell. These extra sources of radiation are interpreted as material close to the central star, maybe due to a recent ejection. Features of C-bearing molecules or grains are not detected.
We present the analysis of the binary-lens microlensing event OGLE-2013-BLG-0911. The best-fit solutions indicate the binary mass ratio of q~0.03 which differs from that reported in Shvartzvald+2016. The event suffers from the well-known close/wide degeneracy, resulting in two groups of solutions for the projected separation normalized by the Einstein radius of s~0.15 or s~7. The finite source and the parallax observations allow us to measure the lens physical parameters. The lens system is an M-dwarf orbited by a massive Jupiter companion at very close (M_{host}=0.30^{+0.08}_{-0.06} M_{Sun}, M_{comp}=10.1^{+2.9}_{-2.2} M_{Jup}, a_{exp}=0.40^{+0.05}_{-0.04} au) or wide (M_{host}=0.28^{+0.10}_{-0.08} M_{Sun}, M_{comp}=9.9^{+3.8}_{-3.5}M_{Jup}, a_{exp}=18.0^{+3.2}_{-3.2} au) separation. Although the mass ratio is slightly above the planet-brown dwarf (BD) mass-ratio boundary of q=0.03 which is generally used, the median physical mass of the companion is slightly below the planet-BD mass boundary of 13M_{Jup}. It is likely that the formation mechanisms for BDs and planets are different and the objects near the boundaries could have been formed by either mechanism. It is important to probe the distribution of such companions with masses of ~13M_{Jup} in order to statistically constrain the formation theories for both BDs and massive planets. In particular, the microlensing method is able to probe the distribution around low-mass M-dwarfs and even BDs which is challenging for other exoplanet detection methods.
We report the discovery of the youngest brown dwarf with a disk at 102 pc from the Sun, WISEA~J120037.79-784508.3 (W1200-7845), via the Disk Detective citizen science project. We establish that W1200-7845 is located in the 3.7$substack{+4.6 -1.4}$ Myr-old $varepsilon$~Cha association. Its spectral energy distribution (SED) exhibits clear evidence of an infrared (IR) excess, indicative of the presence of a warm circumstellar disk. Modeling this warm disk, we find the data are best fit using a power-law description with a slope $alpha = -0.94$, which suggests it is a young, Class II type disk. Using a single blackbody disk fit, we find $T_{eff, disk} = 521 K$ and $L_{IR}/L_{*} = 0.14$. The near-infrared spectrum of W1200-7845 matches a spectral type of M6.0$gamma pm 0.5$, which corresponds to a low surface gravity object, and lacks distinctive signatures of strong Pa$beta$ or Br$gamma$ accretion. Both our SED fitting and spectral analysis indicate the source is cool ($T_{eff} = $2784-2850 K), with a mass of 42-58 $M_{Jup}$, well within the brown dwarf regime. The proximity of this young brown dwarf disk makes the system an ideal benchmark for investigating the formation and early evolution of brown dwarfs.
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