Edasich
dK star
Number of posts : 2291
Location : Tau Ceti g - Mid Latitudes
Registration date : 2008-06-02
 | | Subject: Resolved Imaging of the HD191089 Debris Disc 6th August 2010, 6:04 am | |
| Resolved Imaging of the HD191089 Debris Disc - Quote :
- Two thirds of the F star members of the 12 Myr old Beta Pictoris Moving Group (BPMG) show significant excess emission in the mid-infrared, several million years after the expected dispersal of the protoplanetary disc. Theoretical models of planet formation suggest that this peak in the mid-infrared emission could be due to the formation of Pluto-sized bodies in the disc, which ignite the collisional cascade and enhance the production of small dust. Here we present resolved mid-infrared imaging of the disc of HD191089 (F5V in the BPMG) and consider its implications for the state of planet formation in this system. HD191089 was observed at 18.3 microns using T-ReCS on Gemini South and the images were compared to models of the disc to constrain the radial distribution of the dust. The emission observed at $18.3\umu m$ is shown to be significantly extended beyond the PSF at a position angle of 80 degrees. This is the first time dust emission has been resolved around HD191089. Modelling indicates that the emission arises from a dust belt from 28-90 AU, inclined at 35 degrees from edge on with very little emission from the inner 28AU of the disc, indicating the presence of an inner cavity. The steep slope of the inner edge is more consistent with truncation by a planet than with ongoing stirring. A tentative brightness asymmetry F(W)/F(E)=0.80+/-0.12 (1.8 sigma) between the two sides of the disc could be evidence for perturbations from a massive body on an eccentric orbit in the system.
- Quote :
- Assuming the disc is being truncated by a planet at just inside28AU and that the disc is currently being stirred, then this constrainton the secular timescale means a minimum mass for theperturber can be derived using Eq. 42 from Wyatt et al. (1999)which gives a minimum planet mass of 2.6M for a system ageof 12 Myr.
2.6 Mearth, not MJupiter!? | |
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