Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011ess.....2.3802b&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, ESS meeting #2, #38.02
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
The young star beta Pictoris is well-known for its dusty debris disk, produced through collisions by planetesimals, kilometer-sized bodies in orbit around the star. In addition to dust, small amounts of gas are also known to orbit the star, likely the result from vaporisation of violently colliding dust grains. Since the disk is seen edge on, we know from previous absorption spectroscopy that the gas is very rich in carbon, relative to metallic species. The oxygen content was more difficult to assess, with early estimates finding very little oxygen in the gas at a C / O ratio 20 times higher than the cosmic value. A C / O ratio that high would have far-reaching consequences for planet formation. Here we report on new observations by the far-infrared space telescope Herschel, that show strong emission lines from ionised carbon and neutral oxygen. The emission lines reveal a much larger reservoir of oxygen than previously estimated, pushing the C / O ratio down to close to the cosmic ratio. With the gas originating from vaporised grains, this gives us an indirect measurement of the C / O ratio of the planetesimals, the building blocks of planets.
"Stellar Disk Evolution" Herschel GT KP
Brandeker Alexis
Olofsson PI
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