ترغب بنشر مسار تعليمي؟ اضغط هنا

CO mass upper limits in the Fomalhaut ring - the importance of NLTE excitation in debris discs and future prospects with ALMA

66   0   0.0 ( 0 )
 نشر من قبل Luca Matr\\`a
 تاريخ النشر 2014
  مجال البحث فيزياء
والبحث باللغة English




اسأل ChatGPT حول البحث

In recent years, gas has been observed in an increasing number of debris discs, though its nature remains to be determined. Here, we analyse CO molecular excitation in optically thin debris discs, and search ALMA Cycle-0 data for CO J=3-2 emission in the Fomalhaut ring. No significant line emission is observed; we set a 3-$sigma$ upper limit on the integrated line flux of 0.16 Jy km s$^{-1}$. We show a significant dependency of the CO excitation on the density of collisional partners $n$, on the gas kinetic temperature $T_k$ and on the ambient radiation field $J$, suggesting that assumptions widely used for protoplanetary discs (e.g. LTE) do not necessarily apply to their low density debris counterparts. When applied to the Fomalhaut ring, we consider a primordial origin scenario where H$_2$ dominates collisional excitation of CO, and a secondary origin scenario dominated by e$^-$ and H$_2$O. In either scenario, we obtain a strict upper limit on the CO mass of 4.9 $times$ 10$^{-4}$ M$_{oplus}$. This arises in the non-LTE regime, where the excitation of the molecule is determined solely by the well-known radiation field. In the secondary scenario, assuming any CO present to be in steady state allows us to set an upper limit of $sim$55% on the CO/H$_2$O ice ratio in the parent planetesimals. This could drop to $sim$3% if LTE applies, covering the range observed in Solar System comets (0.4-30%). Finally, in light of our analysis, we present prospects for CO detection and characterisation in debris discs with ALMA.

قيم البحث

اقرأ أيضاً

We present ALMA mosaic observations at 1.3 mm (223 GHz) of the Fomalhaut system with a sensitivity of 14 $mu$Jy/beam. These observations provide the first millimeter map of the continuum dust emission from the complete outer debris disk with uniform sensitivity, enabling the first conclusive detection of apocenter glow. We adopt a MCMC modeling approach that accounts for the eccentric orbital parameters of a collection of particles within the disk. The outer belt is radially confined with an inner edge of $136.3pm0.9$ AU and width of $13.5pm1.8$ AU. We determine a best-fit eccentricity of $0.12pm0.01$. Assuming a size distribution power law index of $q=3.46pm 0.09$, we constrain the dust absorptivity power law index $beta$ to be $0.9<beta<1.5$. The geometry of the disk is robustly constrained with inclination $65.!!^circ6pm0.!!^circ3$, position angle $337.!!^circ9pm0.!!^circ3$, and argument of periastron $22.!!^circ5pm4.!!^circ3$. Our observations do not confirm any of the azimuthal features found in previous imaging studies of the disk with HST, SCUBA, and ALMA. However, we cannot rule out structures $leq10$ AU in size or which only affect smaller grains. The central star is clearly detected with a flux density of $0.75pm0.02$ mJy, significantly lower than predicted by current photospheric models. We discuss the implications of these observations for the directly imaged Fomalhaut b and the inner dust belt detected at infrared wavelengths.
We present ALMA Band 6 observations (1.3 mm/233 GHz) of Fomalhaut and its debris disc. The observations achieve a sensitivity of 17 $mu$Jy and a resolution of 0.28 arcsec (2.1 au at a distance of 7.66 pc), which are the highest resolution observation s to date of the millimetre grains in Fomalhauts main debris ring. The ring is tightly constrained to $139^{+2}_{-3}$ au with a FWHM of $13pm3$ au, following a Gaussian profile. The millimetre spectral index is constrained to $alpha_{mm} = -2.62pm0.12$. We explore fitting debris disc models in the image plane, as well as fitting models using visibility data directly. The results are compared and the potential advantages/disadvantages of each approach are discussed. The detected central emission is indistinguishable from a point source, with a most probable flux of $0.90pm 0.12$ mJy (including calibration uncertainties). This implies that any inner debris structure, as was inferred from far-Infrared observations, must contribute little to the total central emission. Moreover, the stellar flux is less than 70% of that predicted by extrapolating a black body from the constrained stellar photosphere temperature. This result emphasizes that unresolved inner debris components cannot be fully characterized until the behaviour of the host stars intrinsic stellar emission at millimetre wavelengths is properly understood.
One of the defining properties of debris discs compared to protoplanetary discs used to be their lack of gas, yet small amounts of gas have been found around an increasing number of debris discs in recent years. These debris discs found to have gas t end to be both young and bright. In this paper we conduct a deep search for CO gas in the system HD 95086 - a 17 Myr old, known planet host that also has a debris disc with a high fractional luminosity of $1.5times10^{-3}$. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) we search for CO emission lines in bands 3, 6 and 7. By implementing a spectro-spatial filtering technique, we find tentative evidence for CO $J$=2-1 emission in the disc located at a velocity, 8.5$pm$0.2 km s$^{-1}$, consistent with the radial velocity of the star. The tentative detection suggests that the gas on the East side of the disc is moving towards us. In the same region where continuum emission is detected, we find an integrated line flux of 9.5$pm$3.6 mJy km s$^{-1}$, corresponding to a CO mass of (1.4-13)$times10^{-6}$ M$_oplus$. Our analysis confirms that the level of gas present in the disc is inconsistent with the presence of primordial gas in the system and is consistent with second generation production through the collisional cascade.
Fomalhaut C (LP 876-10) is a low mass M4V star in the intriguing Fomalhaut triple system and, like Fomalhaut A, possesses a debris disc. It is one of very few nearby M-dwarfs known to host a debris disc and of these has by far the lowest stellar mass . We present new resolved observations of the debris disc around Fomalhaut C with the Atacama Large Millimetre Array which allow us to model its properties and investigate the systems unique history. The ring has a radius of 26 au and a narrow full width at half maximum of at most 4.2 au. We find a 3$sigma$ upper limit on the eccentricity of 0.14, neither confirming nor ruling out previous dynamic interactions with Fomalhaut A that could have affected Fomalhaut Cs disc. We detect no $^{12}$CO J=3-2 emission in the system and do not detect the disc in scattered light with HST/STIS or VLT/SPHERE. We find the original Herschel detection to be consistent with our ALMA models radial size. We place the disc in the context of the wider debris disc population and find that its radius is as expected from previous disc radius-host luminosity trends. Higher signal-to-noise observations of the system would be required to further constrain the disc properties and provide further insight to the history of the Fomalhaut triple system as a whole.
We present the first ALMA observations of the closest known extrasolar debris disc. This disc orbits the star $epsilon$ Eridani, a K-type star just 3.2pc away. Due to the proximity of the star, the entire disc cannot fit within the ALMA field of view . Therefore, the observations have been centred 18 North of the star, providing us with a clear detection of the northern arc of the ring, at a wavelength of 1.3mm. The observed disc emission is found to be narrow with a width of just 11-13AU. The fractional disc width we find is comparable to that of the Solar Systems Kuiper Belt and makes this one of the narrowest debris discs known. If the inner and outer edges are due to resonances with a planet then this planet likely has a semi-major axis of 48AU. We find tentative evidence for clumps in the ring, although there is a strong chance that at least one is a background galaxy. We confirm, at much higher significance, the previous detection of an unresolved emission at the star that is above the level of the photosphere and attribute this excess to stellar chromospheric emission.
التعليقات
جاري جلب التعليقات جاري جلب التعليقات
سجل دخول لتتمكن من متابعة معايير البحث التي قمت باختيارها
mircosoft-partner

هل ترغب بارسال اشعارات عن اخر التحديثات في شمرا-اكاديميا