Browsing by Subject "debris disks"

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Astrometry, Radial Velocity, And Photometry: The Hd 128311 System Remixed With Data From Hst, Het, And Apt
(2014-11) McArthur, Barbara E.; Benedict, G. Fritz; Henry, Gregory W.; Hatzes, Artie; Cochran, William D.; Harrison, Thomas E.; Johns-Krull, Chris; Nelan, Ed; McArthur, Barbara E.; Benedict, G. Fritz; Cochran, William D.
We have used high-cadence radial velocity measurements from the Hobby-Eberly Telescope with published velocities from the Lick 3 m Shane Telescope, combined with astrometric data from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Fine Guidance Sensors to refine the orbital parameters of the HD 128311 system, and determine an inclination of 55.degrees 95 +/- 14.degrees 55 and true mass of 3.789(+0.924)(-0.432) M-JUP for HD 128311 c. The combined radial velocity data also reveal a short period signal which could indicate a third planet in the system with an M sin i of 0.133 +/- 0.005 M-JUP or stellar phenomena. Photometry from the T12 0.8 m automatic photometric telescope at the Fairborn Observatory and HST are used to determine a photometric period close to, but not within the errors of the radial velocity signal. We performed a cross-correlation bisector analysis of the radial velocity data to look for correlations with the photometric period and found none. Dynamical integrations of the proposed system show long-term stability with the new orbital parameters of over 10 million years. Our new orbital elements do not support the claims of HD 128311 b and c being in mean motion resonance.
The Dust Cloud Around The White Dwarf G 29-38. II. Spectrum From 5 To 40 Mu M And Mid-Infrared Photometric Variability
(2009-03) Reach, William T.; Lisse, Carey; von Hippel, Ted; Mullally, Fergal; Mullally, Fergal
We model the mineralogy and distribution of dust around the white dwarf G29-39 using the infrared spectrum from 1 to 35 mu m. The spectral model for G29-38 dust combines a wide range of materials based on spectral studies of comets and debris disks. In order of their contribution to the mid-infrared emission, the most abundant minerals around G29-38 are amorphous carbon (lambda < 8 mu m), amorphous and crystalline silicates (5-40 mu m), water ice (10-15 and 23-35 mu m), and metal sulfides (18-28 mu m). The amorphous C can be equivalently replaced by other materials (like metallic Fe) with featureless infrared spectra. The best-fitting crystalline silicate is Fe-rich pyroxene. In order to absorb enough starlight to power the observed emission, the disk must either be much thinner than the stellar radius (so that it can be heated from above and below) or it must have an opening angle wider than 2 degrees. A "moderately optically thick" torus model fits well if the dust extends inward to 50 times the white dwarf radius, all grains hotter than 1100 K are vaporized, the optical depth from the star through the disk is tau(parallel to) = 5, and the radial density profile alpha r(-2.7); the total mass of this model disk is 2 x 1019 g. A physically thin (less than the white dwarf radius) and optically thick disk can contribute to the near-infrared continuum only; such a disk cannot explain the longer-wavelength continuum or strong emission features. The combination of a physically thin, optically thick inner disk and an outer, physically thick and moderately optically thin cloud or disk produces a reasonably good fit to the spectrum and requires only silicates in the outer cloud. We discuss the mineralogical results in comparison to planetary materials. The silicate composition contains minerals found from cometary spectra and meteorites, but Fe-rich pyroxene is more abundant than enstatite (Mg-rich pyroxene) or forsterite (Mg-rich olivine) in G29-38 dust, in contrast to what is found in most comet or meteorite mineralogies. Enstatite meteorites may be the most similar solar system materials to G29-38 dust. Finally, we suggest the surviving core of a "hot Jupiter" as an alternative (neither cometary nor asteroidal) origin for the debris, though further theoretical work is needed to determine if this hypothesis is viable.
Dusty Disks Around Central Stars Of Planetary Nebulae
(2014-06) Clayton, Geoffrey C.; De Marco, Orsola; Nordhaus, Jason; Green, Joel; Rauch, Thomas; Werner, Klaus; Chu, You-Hua; Green, Joel D.
Only a few percent of cool, old white dwarfs (WDs) have infrared excesses interpreted as originating in small hot disks due to the infall and destruction of single asteroids that come within the star's Roche limit. Infrared excesses at 24 mu m were also found to derive from the immediate vicinity of younger, hot WDs, most of which are still central stars of planetary nebulae (CSPNe). The incidence of CSPNe with this excess is 18%. The Helix CSPN, with a 24 mu m excess, has been suggested to have a disk formed from collisions of Kuiper belt-like objects (KBOs). In this paper, we have analyzed an additional sample of CSPNe to look for similar infrared excesses. These CSPNe are all members of the PG 1159 class and were chosen because their immediate progenitors are known to often have dusty environments consistent with large dusty disks. We find that, overall, PG 1159 stars do not present such disks more often than other CSPNe, although the statistics (five objects) are poor. We then consider the entire sample of CSPNe with infrared excesses and compare it to the infrared properties of old WDs, as well as cooler post-asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. We conclude with the suggestion that the infrared properties of CSPNe more plausibly derive from AGB-formed disks rather than disks formed via the collision of KBOs, although the latter scenario cannot be ruled out. Finally, there seems to be an association between CSPNe with a 24 mu m excess and confirmed or possible binarity of the central star.
The Herschel Digit Survey Of Weak-Line T Tauri Stars: Implications For Disk Evolution And Dissipation
(2013-01) Cieza, Lucas A.; Olofsson, Johan; Harvey, Paul M.; Evans, Neal J.; Najita, Joan; Henning, Thomas; Merin, Bruno; Liebhart, Armin; Gudel, Manuel; Augereau, Jean-Charles; Pinte, Christopher; Harvey, Paul M.; Evans, Neal J.
As part of the "Dust, Ice, and Gas In Time (DIGIT)" Herschel Open Time Key Program, we present Herschel photometry (at 70, 160, 250, 350, and 500 mu m) of 31 weak-line T Tauri star (WTTS) candidates in order to investigate the evolutionary status of their circumstellar disks. Of the stars in our sample, 13 had circumstellar disks previously known from infrared observations at shorter wavelengths, while 18 of them had no previous evidence for a disk. We detect a total of 15 disks as all previously known disks are detected at one or more Herschel wavelengths and two additional disks are identified for the first time. The spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of our targets seem to trace the dissipation of the primordial disk and the transition to the debris disk regime. Of the 15 disks, 7 appear to be optically thick primordial disks, including 2 objects with SEDs indistinguishable from those of typical Classical T Tauri stars, 4 objects that have significant deficit of excess emission at all IR wavelengths, and 1 "pre-transitional" object with a known gap in the disk. Despite their previous WTTS classification, we find that the seven targets in our sample with optically thick disks show evidence for accretion. The remaining eight disks have weaker IR excesses similar to those of optically thin debris disks. Six of them are warm and show significant 24 mu m Spitzer excesses, while the last two are newly identified cold debris-like disks with photospheric 24 mu m fluxes, but significant excess emission at longer wavelengths. The Herschel photometry also places strong constraints on the non-detections, where systems with F-70/F-70,(*) greater than or similar to 5-15 and L-disk/L-* greater than or similar to 10(-3) to 10(-4) can be ruled out. We present preliminary models for both the optically thick and optically thin disks and discuss our results in the context of the evolution and dissipation of circumstellar disks.
The Infrared Colors Of The Sun
(2012-12) Casagrande, L.; Ramirez, Ivan; Melendez, Jorge; Asplund, Martin; Ramirez, Ivan
Solar infrared colors provide powerful constraints on the stellar effective temperature scale, but they must be measured with both accuracy and precision in order to do so. We fulfill this requirement by using line-depth ratios to derive in a model-independent way the infrared colors of the Sun, and we use the latter to test the zero point of the Casagrande et al. effective temperature scale, confirming its accuracy. Solar colors in the widely used Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) JHK(s) and WISE W1-4 systems are provided: (V - J)(circle dot) = 1.198, (V - H)(circle dot) = 1.484, (V - K-s)(circle dot) = 1.560, (J - H)(circle dot) = 0.286, (J - K-s)(circle dot) = 0.362, (H - K-s)(circle dot) = 0.076, (V - W1)(circle dot) = 1.608, (V - W2)(circle dot) = 1.563, (V - W3)(circle dot) = 1.552, and (V - W4)(circle dot) = 1.604. A cross-check of the effective temperatures derived implementing 2MASS or WISE magnitudes in the infrared flux method confirms that the absolute calibration of the two systems agrees within the errors, possibly suggesting a 1% offset between the two, thus validating extant near-and mid-infrared absolute calibrations. While 2MASS magnitudes are usually well suited to derive T-eff, we find that a number of bright, solar-like stars exhibit anomalous WISE colors. In most cases, this effect is spurious and can be attributed to lower-quality measurements, although for a couple of objects (3%+/- 2% of the total sample) it might be real, and may hint at the presence of warm/hot debris disks.
Multi-Epoch Observations Of Hd 69830: High-Resolution Spectroscopy And Limits To Variability
(2011-12) Beichman, Charles A.; Lisse, C. M.; Tanner, A. M.; Bryden, G.; Akeson, R. L.; Ciardi, David R.; Boden, Andrew F.; Dodson-Robinson, Sarah E.; Salyk, Colette; Wyatt, M. C.; Dodson-Robinson, Sarah E.; Salyk, Colette
The main-sequence solar-type star HD 69830 has an unusually large amount of dusty debris orbiting close to three planets found via the radial velocity technique. In order to explore the dynamical interaction between the dust and planets, we have performed multi-epoch photometry and spectroscopy of the system over several orbits of the outer dust. We find no evidence for changes in either the dust amount or its composition, with upper limits of 5%-7% (1 sigma per spectral element) on the variability of the dust spectrum over 1 year, 3.3% (1 sigma) on the broadband disk emission over 4 years, and 33% (1 sigma) on the broadband disk emission over 24 years. Detailed modeling of the spectrum of the emitting dust indicates that the dust is located outside of the orbits of the three planets and has a composition similar to main-belt, C-type asteroids in our solar system. Additionally, we find no evidence for a wide variety of gas species associated with the dust. Our new higher signal-to-noise spectra do not confirm our previously claimed detection of H(2)O ice leading to a firm conclusion that the debris can be associated with the break-up of one or more C-type asteroids formed in the dry, inner regions of the protoplanetary disk of the HD 69830 system. The modeling of the spectral energy distribution and high spatial resolution observations in the mid-infrared are consistent with a similar to 1 AU location for the emitting material.
SDSS J074511.56+194926.5: Discovery Of A Metal-Rich And Tidally Distorted Extremely Low Mass White Dwarf
(2014-02) Gianninas, A.; Hermes, J. J.; Brown, Warren R.; Dufour, Patrick; Barber, S. D.; Kilic, Mukremin; Kenyon, S. J.; Harrold, Samuel T.; Hermes, J. J.; Harrold, S. T.
We present the discovery of an unusual, tidally distorted extremely low mass white dwarf (WD) with nearly solar metallicity. Radial velocity measurements confirm that this is a compact binary with an orbital period of 2.6975 hr and a velocity semi-amplitude of K = 108.7 km s(-1). Analysis of the hydrogen Balmer lines yields an effective temperature of T-eff = 8380 K and a surface gravity of log g = 6.21 that in turn indicate a mass of M = 0.16 M-circle dot and a cooling age of 4.2 Gyr. In addition, a detailed analysis of the observed metal lines yields abundances of log (Mg/H) = -3.90, log(Ca/H) = -5.80, log(Ti/ H) = -6.10, log(Cr/H) = -5.60, and log(Fe/H) = -4.50, similar to the sun. We see no evidence of a debris disk from which these metals would be accreted, though the possibility cannot entirely be ruled out. Other potential mechanisms to explain the presence of heavy elements are discussed. Finally, we expect this system to ultimately undergo unstable mass transfer and merge to form a similar to 0.3-0.6 M-circle dot WD in a few Gyr.
A Search For Exozodiacal Clouds With Kepler
(2013-02) Stark, Christopher C.; Boss, Alan P.; Weinberger, Alycia J.; Jackson, Brian K.; Endl, Michael; Cochran, William D.; Johnson, Marshall; Caldwell, Caroline; Agol, Eric; Ford, Eric B.; Hall, Jennifer R.; Ibrahim, Khadeejah A.; Li, Jie; Endl, Michael; Cochran, William D.; Johnson, Marshall; Caldwell, Caroline
Planets embedded within dust disks may drive the formation of large scale clumpy dust structures by trapping dust into resonant orbits. Detection and subsequent modeling of the dust structures would help constrain the mass and orbit of the planet and the disk architecture, give clues to the history of the planetary system, and provide a statistical estimate of disk asymmetry for future exoEarth-imaging missions. Here, we present the first search for these resonant structures in the inner regions of planetary systems by analyzing the light curves of hot Jupiter planetary candidates identified by the Kepler mission. We detect only one candidate disk structure associated with KOI 838.01 at the 3 sigma confidence level, but subsequent radial velocity measurements reveal that KOI 838.01 is a grazing eclipsing binary and the candidate disk structure is a false positive. Using our null result, we place an upper limit on the frequency of dense exozodi structures created by hot Jupiters. We find that at the 90% confidence level, less than 21% of Kepler hot Jupiters create resonant dust clumps that lead and trail the planet by similar to 90 degrees with optical depths greater than or similar to 5 x 10(-6), which corresponds to the resonant structure expected for a lone hot Jupiter perturbing a dynamically cold dust disk 50 times as dense as the zodiacal cloud.