Epsilon Aurigae at the End of Eclipse

Details Epsilon Aurigae at the End of Eclipse Epsilon Aurigae at the End of Eclipse

May 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011sptz.prop80017h&link_type=abstract

Spitzer Proposal ID #80017

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Scientific paper

We request a small investment of 24 minutes of Spitzer time, to obtain four IRAC observations of epsilon Aurigae. A naked eye object located near Capella, epsilon Aurigae is the eclipsing binary star with the longest known orbital period, showing a single long duration (~2 yr) eclipse every 27.1 yr. For much of the last 150 years, the nature of the eclipsing object defied explanation. We recently demonstrated that epsilon Aurigae consists of a high luminosity F0 post-AGB star in orbit with a B5 V star surrounded by a solar system sized (~8 AU diameter) disk of cool, dust-dominated material. The eclipse of epsilon Aurigae is a rare event; moreover, it is a unique astrophysical opportunity, since the backlighting of the disk by the high luminosity eclipsed star reveals details that cannot be detected in similar dusty disks around single stars. The current eclipse started in August 2009 and is expected to reach its photometric conclusion in May 2011 (with the spectroscopic conclusion as late as December 2011). The goals for these observations include: (1) extend our ongoing IRAC monitoring campaign covering the current eclipse to late-phase and post-eclipse visits; (2) provide a consistent, well-calibrated space-based set of IR photometry for comparison with ongoing ground-based work; and (3) use the composite results to constrain the thermal profile of the disk. A key expectation of these particular observations is to reveal the irradiation-heated portion of the disk, which will be visible on its trailing side following eclipse. Observations of this side of the disk will be crucial to test and constrain new models of disk structure. As part of our overall monitoring campaign with Spitzer, Hubble, Herschel, and numerous ground-based facilities, these proposed observations will make an important contribution to the understanding of stellar evolution in binary stars, including mass transfer and evolution studies, along with new insights into astrophysical disks and post-AGB star evolution.

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