Other
Scientific paper
Aug 2005
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005noao.prop..312a&link_type=abstract
NOAO Proposal ID #2005B-0312
Other
Scientific paper
Circumstellar disks provide important information on the formation and architecture of embedded planetary systems. Recent sensitive Spitzer observations of A-type stars demonstrated a general decay of their infrared excess emission over a time scale of 150 Myr. The existence of several disks brighter than the decay envelope is explained by large amounts of dust recently freed by minor body collisions. The study of these disks provides information on the total dust mass, orbital radius and allows the characterization of the collision events, such as the composition and mass of the bodies involved and the epoch of the event. However, spatially resolved images are necessary to constrain the size of the disk and to break the degeneracies in the disk models. The Michelle/Gemini is a uniquely sensitive instrument to map circumstellar disks in the 20-micron atmospheric window, where the apparent disk size is the largest in the infrared. We propose to obtain images of disks around 8 selected young, nearby stars with recent collisions indicated by strong mid-infrared excess emission. Two of these disks have already been marginally resolved, while the others were not yet observed in the thermal infrared at subarcsecond resolutions. Our simulated Michelle images show that we will be able to marginally resolve all of our targets, and study the structure of at least four of the disks. The sensitivity and stable point spread function of the Michelle/Gemini instrument will allow us to obtain the most sensitive spatially resolved images of our targets, constrain the disk size and structure, and to deduce the mass of the bodies destroyed in violent exo-planetary collisions.
No associations
LandOfFree
Resolving Bright Debris Disks with Michelle: Dust after Exoplanetary Collisions 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 Resolving Bright Debris Disks with Michelle: Dust after Exoplanetary Collisions, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Resolving Bright Debris Disks with Michelle: Dust after Exoplanetary Collisions will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-796965