A near-infrared interferometric survey of debris disk stars. I. Probing the hot dust content around epsilon Eridani and tau Ceti with CHARA/FLUOR

Details A near-infrared interferometric survey of debris disk stars. I. Probing the hot dust content around epsilon Eridani and tau Ceti with CHARA/FLUOR A near-infrared interferometric survey of debris disk stars. I. Probing the hot dust content around epsilon Eridani and tau Ceti with CHARA/FLUOR

2007-10-09

arxiv.org/abs/0710.1731v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

8 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Astronomy and Astrophysics

Scientific paper

10.1051/0004-6361:20077625

We probed the first 3AU around tau Ceti and epsilon Eridani with the CHARA array (Mt Wilson, USA) in order to gauge the 2micron excess flux emanating from possible hot dust grains in the debris disks and to also resolve the stellar photospheres. High precision visibility amplitude measurements were performed with the FLUOR single mode fiber instrument and telescope pairs on baselines ranging from 22 to 241m of projected length. The short baseline observations allow us to disentangle the contribution of an extended structure from the photospheric emission, while the long baselines constrain the stellar diameter. We have detected a resolved emission around tau Cet, corresponding to a spatially integrated, fractional excess flux of 0.98 +/- 0.21 x 10^{-2} with respect to the photospheric flux in the K'-band. Around eps Eri, our measurements can exclude a fractional excess of greater than 0.6x10^{-2} (3sigma). We interpret the photometric excess around tau Cet as a possible signature of hot grains in the inner debris disk and demonstrate that a faint, physical or background, companion can be safely excluded. In addition, we measured both stellar angular diameters with an unprecedented accuracy: Theta_LD(tau Cet)= 2.015 +/- 0.011 mas and Theta_LD(eps Eri)=2.126 +/- 0.014 mas.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

A near-infrared interferometric survey of debris disk stars. I. Probing the hot dust content around epsilon Eridani and tau Ceti with CHARA/FLUOR does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with A near-infrared interferometric survey of debris disk stars. I. Probing the hot dust content around epsilon Eridani and tau Ceti with CHARA/FLUOR, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and A near-infrared interferometric survey of debris disk stars. I. Probing the hot dust content around epsilon Eridani and tau Ceti with CHARA/FLUOR will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-116729