Fine-Scale Imaging of Newly Resolved Debris Disks around Solar-Type Stars

Details Fine-Scale Imaging of Newly Resolved Debris Disks around Solar-Type Stars Fine-Scale Imaging of Newly Resolved Debris Disks around Solar-Type Stars

May 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006sptz.prop30157b&link_type=abstract

Spitzer Proposal ID #30157

Physics

Scientific paper

We have surveyed ~200 nearby solar-type stars for IR excess, with a detection rate of ~15%. Of the stars identified as having circumstellar emission, ~10 are marginally resolved in their MIPS 70 µm images. Beyond the "Fabulous Four", these are the only debris disks that have been spatially resolved by Spitzer. Several have independent evidence for disk extension, most notably HD 139664, for which an edge-on disk has been recently imaged with HST. Our MIPS image of this disk matches HST's in both size and position angle. We propose to obtain 70 µm fine scale images for 7 debris disk systems to further resolve the disks and to improve our understanding of their properties. We also request 160 µm data for 4 of the systems. 160um images will further constrain the distribution of dust temperatures within the disks and, if the disks continue out to large radii, can resolve the cold emission from the outer disk. In the absence of spatial information, flux measurements can only determine a representative dust temperature, not its location. By combining SED-derived dust temperatures with direct measurements of the dust extent, we can 1) remove the ambiguity in determining the orbital location of the dust emission, 2) determine the location of the colliding planetesimal belts that create the dust, 3) measure the average dust emissivity and infer a typical grain size, 4) relate debris disk sizes to those of protostellar disks to help understand where planetesimals form, 5) for stars with known planets, correlate the dust location with planetary orbits, and 6) relate the dust distribution to theoretical models of disk sculpting by planets, particularly for cases where the observed disk structure is asymmetric. Overall, these results will help us to understand the evolution of both the individual systems studied and, by extension, the greater sample of unresolved solar-type debris disks.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Fine-Scale Imaging of Newly Resolved Debris Disks around Solar-Type Stars 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 Fine-Scale Imaging of Newly Resolved Debris Disks around Solar-Type Stars, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Fine-Scale Imaging of Newly Resolved Debris Disks around Solar-Type Stars will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-933160