Search for Planetary Companions of epsilon Eridani and Fomalhaut

Details Search for Planetary Companions of epsilon Eridani and Fomalhaut Search for Planetary Companions of epsilon Eridani and Fomalhaut

May 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006sptz.prop30754m&link_type=abstract

Spitzer Proposal ID #30754

Computer Science

Scientific paper

Fifteen percent of bright main sequence stars possess dusty circumstellar debris disks revealed by far-infrared photometry. These disks are signposts of planetary systems: collisions among larger, unseen parent bodies maintain the observed dust populations against losses to radiation pressure and P-R drag. Images of debris disks at optical, infrared, and millimeter wavelengths have shown central holes, rings, radial gaps, warps, and azimuthal asymmetries which indicate the presence of planetary mass perturbers. Two important nearby examples are epsilon Eridani, where clumps in the submm ring suggest resonant trapping by a planet; and Fomalhaut, where the elliptical ring geometry requires planetary perturbations to maintain its apsidal alignment. With its unparalled sensitivity at 4.5 microns, Spitzer offers a major opportunity to directly detect planetary perturbers as small as a few Jupiter masses in these two nearby disk systems. Initial IRAC full-array imaging of these targets has demonstrated the PSF subtraction techniques needed to detect faint companions. However, bright star saturation artifacts prevented us from probing the region interior to the rings, which are 20 arcsec in radius. To extend the companion search inward to 5" radius, we propose IRAC subarray imaging of epsilon Eri and Fomalhaut. Our goal is to directly detect the giant planets perturbing the dust rings, and characterize them as CH4 dwarfs from their characteristic [3.6]-[4.5] color. Observations will be made at two epochs, to roll the telescope diffraction pattern across the sky as an aid to rejecting PSF artifacts. The results will be uniquely sensitive to cold, low-mass planets ("Y dwarfs") that are undetectable from the ground at optical and near-IR wavelengths. These observations represent perhaps the best opportunity to directly image extrasolar planets during the Spitzer mission.

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