Other
Scientific paper
Jul 2004
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004hst..prop10390k&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #10390
Other
Hst Proposal Id #10390
Scientific paper
We report the unexpected detection of the Fomalhaut debris disk in scattered light during one orbit of observation for our Cycle 12 program GO9862. This is a major discovery because Fomalhaut is now the closest {7.7 pc} and oldest { 200 Myr} debris disk detected in reflected light. We would like to request Director's Discretionary Time to further study the Fomalhaut disk. The goals are to image the disk around its entire perimeter, increase the signal-to-noise of the detection, and to obtain data at a second wavelength. We will perform a high-resolution study of radial and azimuthal disk asymmetries that are thought to arise from perturbations by planet-mass companions, and we will constrain the physical properties of grain material by obtaining the color of the disk. Because our original Cycle 12 program was designed to study point sources in the field, and the ACS/HRC coronagraph is a limited lifetime resource, it is necessary to acquire these additional data via Director's Discretionary Time during Cycle 13. The observational challenge of high contrast cannot be met by other observatories, and these data will complement new Spitzer results on the Fomalhaut disk at mid and far-infared wavelengths.
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