Multi-wavelength spectroscopy can be used to constrain the dust and gas properties in debris disks. Circumstellar dust absorbs and scatters incident stellar light. The scattered light is sometimes resolved spatially at visual and near-infrared wavelengths using high contrast imaging techniques that suppress light from the central star. The thermal emission is inferred from infrared through submillimeter excess emission that may be 1-2 orders of magnitude brighter than the stellar photosphere alone. If the disk is not spatially resolved, then the radial distribution of the dust can be inferred from Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) modeling. If the grains are sufficiently small and warm, then their composition can be determined from mid-infrared spectroscopy. Otherwise, their composition may be determined from reflectance and/or far-infrared spectroscopy. Atomic and molecular gas absorb and resonantly scatter stellar light. Since the gas is believed to be secondary, detailed analysis analysis of the gas distribution, kinematics, and composition may also shed light on the dust composition and processing history.
A search for circumstellar gas in pre-main-sequence debris discs using absorption spectroscopy
School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Leeds（利兹大学物理与天文学院）；Astrophysics Research Cluster, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, The University of Sheffield（谢菲尔德大学数学与物理科学学院天体物理学研究集群）
We describe Spitzer IRS spectroscopic observations of the 10 Myr-old star, EF Cha. Compositional modeling of the spectra from 5 μm to 35 μm confirms that it is surrounded by a luminous debris disk with LD/L\star ~ 10-3, containing dust with temperatures between 225 K and 430 K characteristic of the terrestrial zone. The EF Cha spectrum shows evidence for many solid-state features, unlike most cold, low-luminosity debris disks but like some other 10-20 Myr-old luminous, warm debris disks (e.g. HD 113766A). The EF Cha debris disk is unusually rich in a species or combination of species whose emi…
We present analysis of time-variable, shifted absorption features in far-UV spectra of the unusual 49 Ceti debris disk. This nearly edge-on disk is one of the brightest known, and is one of the very few containing detectable amounts of circumstellar gas as well as dust. In our two visits of Hubble Space Telescope STIS spectra, variable absorption features are seen on the wings of lines arising from C II and C IV, but not for any of the other circumstellar absorption lines. Similar variable features have long been seen in spectra of the well-studied $β$ Pictoris debris disk and attributed to th…
We report Herschel and AKARI photometric observations at far-infrared (FIR) wavelengths of the debris disk around the F3V star HD 15407A, in which the presence of an extremely large amount of warm dust (~500-600 K) has been suggested by mid-infrared (MIR) photometry and spectroscopy. The observed flux densities of the debris disk at 60-160 micron are clearly above the photospheric level of the star, suggesting excess emission at FIR as well as at MIR wavelengths previously reported. The observed FIR excess emission is consistent with the continuum level extrapolated from the MIR excess, sugges…
Young and dynamically active planetary systems can form disks of debris that are easier to image than the planets themselves. The morphology and evolution of these disks can help to infer the properties of the putative planets responsible for generating and shaping the debris structures. We present integral field spectroscopy and dual-band imaging from VLT/SPHERE ($1.0 - 1.7 μm$) of the debris disk around the young F2V/F3V star HD 115600. We aim to 1) characterize the geometry and composition of the debris ring, 2) search for thermal emission of young giant planets, and 3) in the absence of de…
We present new, near-infrared ($1.1 - 2.4$ $μm$) high-contrast imaging of the debris disk around HD 15115 with the Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics system (SCExAO) coupled with the Coronagraphic High Angular Resolution Imaging Spectrograph (CHARIS). SCExAO/CHARIS resolves the disk down to $ρ\sim 0.2''$ ($\rm{r_{proj}} \sim 10$ $\rm{au}$), a factor of $\sim 3-5$ smaller than previous recent studies. We derive a disk position angle of $\rm{PA}$ $\sim 279.4^\circ - 280.5^\circ$ and an inclination of $\rm{i}$ $\sim 85.3^\circ - 86.2^\circ$. While recent SPHERE/IRDIS imagery of the syst…
Revisiting the ultraviolet spectroscopy of the eta Tel edge-on debris disk
Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center（NASA戈达德太空飞行中心系外行星与恒星天体物理学实验室）；AlbaNova University Centre, Stockholm University（斯德哥尔摩大学阿尔巴诺瓦大学中心）；Universidad de Santiago de Chile（智利圣地亚哥大学）；Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Astrophysics and Space Exploration (CIRAS), Universidad de Santiago de Chile（智利圣地亚哥大学跨学科天体物理学与太空探索研究中心）；Millennium Nucleus on Young Exoplanets and their Moons (YEMS)（年轻系外行星及其卫星千年核心）；Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution for Science（卡内基科学学会地磁系）；Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, University of Colorado（科罗拉多大学天体物理学与空间天文中心）；Eureka Scientific（尤里卡科学公司）
Spectro-photometry of debris disks in total intensity and polarimetry can provide new insight into the properties of the dust grains therein (size distribution and optical properties). We aim to constrain the morphology of the highly inclined debris disk HD 32297. We also intend to obtain spectroscopic and polarimetric measurements to retrieve information on the particle size distribution within the disk for certain grain compositions. We observed HD 32297 with SPHERE in Y, J, and H bands in total intensity and in J band in polarimetry. The observations are compared to synthetic models of debr…
We present follow-up photometry and spectroscopy of ZTF J0328$-$1219 strengthening its status as a white dwarf exhibiting transiting planetary debris. Using TESS and Zwicky Transient Facility photometry, along with follow-up high speed photometry from various observatories, we find evidence for two significant periods of variability at 9.937 and 11.2 hr. We interpret these as most likely the orbital periods of different debris clumps. Changes in the detailed dip structures within the light curves are observed on nightly, weekly, and monthly timescales, reminiscent of the dynamic behavior obser…
We present new, near-infrared (1.1--2.4 $μm$) high-contrast imaging of the bright debris disk surrounding HIP 79977 with the Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics system (SCExAO) coupled with the CHARIS integral field spectrograph. SCExAO/CHARIS resolves the disk down to smaller angular separations of (0.11"; $r \sim 14$ au) and at a higher significance than previously achieved at the same wavelengths. The disk exhibits a marginally significant east-west brightness asymmetry in $H$ band that requires confirmation. Geometrical modeling suggests a nearly edge-on disk viewed at a position …
We describe the discovery of a bright, young Kuiper belt-like debris disk around HD 115600, a $\sim$ 1.4--1.5 M$_\mathrm{\odot}$, $\sim$ 15 Myr old member of the Sco-Cen OB Association. Our H-band coronagraphy/integral field spectroscopy from the \textit{Gemini Planet Imager} shows the ring has a (luminosity scaled) semi major axis of ($\sim$ 22 AU) $\sim$ 48 AU, similar to the current Kuiper belt. The disk appears to have neutral scattering dust, is eccentric (e $\sim$ 0.1--0.2), and could be sculpted by analogues to the outer solar system planets. Spectroscopy of the disk ansae reveal a slig…
A "minimum model" for debris disks consists of a narrow ring of parent bodies, secularly forced by a single planet on a possibly eccentric orbit, colliding to produce dust grains that are perturbed by stellar radiation pressure. We demonstrate how this minimum model can reproduce a wide variety of disk morphologies imaged in scattered starlight. Five broad categories of disk shape can be captured: "rings," "needles," "ships-and-wakes," "bars," and "moths (a.k.a. fans)," depending on the viewing geometry. Moths can also sport "double wings." We explain the origin of morphological features from …
We report nine years of optical spectroscopy of the metal-polluted white dwarf SDSS J104341.53+085558.2, which presents morphological variations of the line profiles of the 8600 Å Ca II triplet emission from the gaseous component of its debris disc. Similar changes in the shape of the Ca II triplet have also been observed in two other systems that host a gaseous disc, and are likely related to the same mechanism. We report the Mg, Si, and Ca abundances of the debris detected in the photosphere of SDSS J1043+0855, place upper limits on O and Fe, and derive an accretion rate of (2.5 - 12)x$10^8$…
The First Infrared Portrait of A Solar-Like Host Star with Debris Disk: Pioneering High-Resolution H- and K-Band Spectroscopy of HD115617 with Comparative Optical Spectrum Analysis
Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit, Kayseri University（开塞利大学科学研究项目协调处）
We combine nulling interferometry at 10 μm using the MMT and Keck Telescopes with spectroscopy, imaging, and photometry from 3 to 100 μm using Spitzer to study the debris disk around β Leo over a broad range of spatial scales, corresponding to radii of 0.1 to ~100 AU. We have also measured the close binary star o Leo with both Keck and MMT interferometers to verify our procedures with these instruments. The β Leo debris system has a complex structure: 1.) relatively little material within 1 AU; 2.) an inner component with a color temperature of ~600 K, fitted by a dusty ring from about 2 to 3 …
Planets can affect debris disk structure by creating gaps, sharp edges, warps, and other potentially observable signatures. However, there is currently no simple way for observers to deduce a disk-shepherding planet's properties from the observed features of the disk. Here we present a single equation that relates a shepherding planet's maximum mass to the debris ring's observed width in scattered light, along with a procedure to estimate the planet's eccentricity and minimum semimajor axis. We accomplish this by performing dynamical N-body simulations of model systems containing a star, a sin…
Gardening on the Moon: An Advection-Diffusion Model to Guide the Search for Supernova Debris in the Lunar Regolith
Hawai‘i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa（夏威夷大学马诺阿分校地球物理学与行星学研究所）；King’s College London（伦敦国王学院）；CERN（欧洲核子研究组织）；University of Illinois（伊利诺伊大学）；University of Notre Dame（圣母大学）；Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院高能物理研究所）
We present Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) observations of AU Microscopii, a young M dwarf with an edge-on, dusty debris disk. Integral field spectroscopy and broadband imaging polarimetry were obtained during the commissioning of GPI. In our broadband imaging polarimetry observations, we detect the disk only in total intensity and find asymmetries in the morphology of the disk between the southeast and northwest sides. The southeast side of the disk exhibits a bump at 1$''$ (10 AU projected separation) that is three times more vertically extended and three times fainter in peak surface brightness …
A Stable Mineral Fingerprint in the Fading Warm Debris Disk around HD 15407A
CAS Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院国家天文台光学天文重点实验室）；School of Astronomy and Space Science, University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学天文与空间科学学院）；School of Space and Earth Sciences, Beihang University（北京航空航天大学空天科学学院）；Institute for Frontiers in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Beijing Normal University（北京师范大学天文与空间科学学院前沿交叉研究中心）；School of Physics and Astronomy, Beijing Normal University（北京师范大学物理与天文学院）
Optical spectroscopic observations of white dwarf stars selected from catalogs based on the Gaia DR2 database reveal nine new gaseous debris disks that orbit single white dwarf stars, about a factor of two increase over the previously known sample. For each source we present gas emission lines identified and basic stellar parameters, including abundances for lines seen with low-resolution spectroscopy. Principle discoveries include: (1) the coolest white dwarf (Teff~12,720 K) with a gas disk; this star, WD0145+234, has been reported to have undergone a recent infrared outburst; (2) co-location…
Practically all known planet hosts will evolve into white dwarfs, and large parts of their planetary systems will survive this transition - the same is true for the solar system beyond the orbit of Mars. Spectroscopy of white dwarfs accreting planetary debris provides the most accurate insight into the bulk composition of exo-planets. Ground-based spectroscopic surveys of ~260, 000 white dwarfs detected with Gaia will identify >1000 evolved planetary systems, and high-throughput high-resolution space-based ultraviolet spectroscopy is essential to measure in detail their abundances. So far, evi…
Debris disk stars are good targets for high contrast imaging searches for planetary systems, since debris disks have been shown to have a tentative correlation with giant planets. We selected 20 stars identified as debris disk hosts by the WSIE mission, with particularly high levels of warm dust. We observed these with the VLT/SPHERE high contrast imaging instrument with the goal of finding planets and imaging the disks in scattered light. Our survey reaches a median 5$σ$~sensitivity of 10.4Mj at 25au and 5.9Mj at 100au. We identified three new stellar companions (HD18378B, HD19257B and HD1337…
We report the discovery of a planetary-mass companion, HD 106906 b, with the new Magellan Adaptive Optics (MagAO) + Clio2 system. The companion is detected with Clio2 in three bands: $J$, $K_S$, and $L^\prime$, and lies at a projected separation of 7.1'' (650 AU). It is confirmed to be comoving with its $13\pm2$ Myr-old F5 host using Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys astrometry over a time baseline of 8.3 yr. DUSTY and COND evolutionary models predict the companion's luminosity corresponds to a mass of $11\pm2 M_{Jup}$, making it one of the most widely separated planetary-mass…
We observed the edge-on, planet-bearing disk of β Pictoris using T-ReCS at Gemini to clarify and extend previous observations and conclusions about this unique system. Our spectroscopy and spectral modeling of the 10-micron silicate feature constrain the spatial distributions of three representative dust components (0.1-micron/2.0-micron glassy olivine and crystalline forsterite) across the inner 20-AU of the disk. We confirm that the 2.0-micron glassy olivine is strongly peaked in the disk center and that the 0.1-micron glassy olivine does not show this concentration, but rather is double pea…
We present far- and near-ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy of the $\sim$23 Myr edge-on debris disk surrounding the A0V star $η$ Telescopii, obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. We detect absorption lines from C I, C II, O I, Mg II, Al II, Si II, S II, Mn II, Fe II, and marginally N I. The lines show two clear absorption components at $-22.7\pm0.5$ km s$^{-1}$ and $-17.8\pm0.7$ km s$^{-1}$, which we attribute to circumstellar (CS) and interstellar (IS) gas, respectively. CO absorption is not detected, and we find no evidence for star-grazing exocomets…
We present detailed characterization of the extremely dusty main sequence star TYC 8830 410 1. This system hosts inner planetary system dust (Tdust~300 K) with a fractional infrared luminosity of ~1%. Mid-infrared spectroscopy reveals a strong, mildy-crystalline solid-state emission feature. TYC 8830 410 1 (spectral type G9V) has a 49.5" separation M4-type companion co-moving and co-distant with it, and we estimate a system age of ~600 Myr. TYC 8830 410 1 also experiences "dipper"-like dimming events as detected by ASAS-SN, TESS, and characterized in more detail with the LCOGT. These recurring…
We report here time domain infrared spectroscopy and optical photometry of the HD145263 silica-rich circumstellar disk system taken from 2003 through 2014. We find an F4V host star surrounded by a stable, massive 1e22 - 1e23 kg (M_Moon to M_Mars) dust disk. No disk gas was detected, and the primary star was seen rotating with a rapid ~1.75 day period. After resolving a problem with previously reported observations, we find the silica, Mg-olivine, and Fe-pyroxene mineralogy of the dust disk to be stable throughout, and very unusual compared to the ferromagnesian silicates typically found in pri…
We present a method which uses colour-colour cuts on SDSS photometry to select white dwarfs with hydrogen rich (DA) atmospheres without the recourse to spectroscopy. This method results in a sample of DA white dwarfs that is 95% complete at an efficiency of returning a true DA white dwarf of 62%. The approach was applied to SDSS Data Release 7 for objects with and without SDSS spectroscopy. This lead to 4636 spectroscopically confirmed DA white dwarfs with g<=19; a ~70% increase compared to Eisenstein et al.'s 2006 sample. Including the photometric-only objects, we estimate a factor of 3 incre…
Circumstellar debris disks older than a few Myr should be largely devoid of primordial gas remaining from the protoplanetary disk phase. Tracing the origin of observed atomic gas in Keplerian rotation in the edge-on debris disk surrounding the ~12 Myr old star β Pictoris requires more detailed information about its spatial distribution than has previously been acquired by limited slit spectroscopy. Especially indications of asymmetries and presence of Ca II gas at high disk latitudes call for additional investigation. We set out to recover a complete image of the Fe I and Ca II gas emission ar…
We present far-IR/sub-mm imaging and spectroscopy of 49 Ceti, an unusual circumstellar disk around a nearby young A1V star. The system is famous for showing the dust properties of a debris disk, but the gas properties of a low-mass protoplanetary disk. The data were acquired with the Herschel Space Observatory PACS and SPIRE instruments, largely as part of the "Gas in Protoplanetary Systems" (GASPS) Open Time Key Programme. Disk dust emission is detected in images at 70, 160, 250, 350, and 500 μm; 49 Cet is significantly extended in the 70 μm image, spatially resolving the outer dust disk for …
We present new near-infrared Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) spectroscopy of HD 206893 B, a substellar companion orbiting within the debris disk of its F5V star. The $J$, $H$, $K1$, and $K2$ spectra from GPI demonstrate the extraordinarily red colors of the object, confirming it as the reddest substellar object observed to date. The significant flux increase throughout the infrared presents a challenging atmosphere to model with existing grids. Best-fit values vary from 1200 K to 1800 K for effective temperature and from 3.0 to 5.0 for log($g$), depending on which individual wavelength band is fit …
The Disk Detective citizen science project aims to find new stars with 22 micron excess emission from circumstellar dust using data from NASA's WISE mission. Initial cuts on the AllWISE catalog provide an input catalog of 277,686 sources. Volunteers then view images of each source online in 10 different bands to identify false-positives (galaxies, background stars, interstellar matter, image artifacts, etc.). Sources that survive this online vetting are followed up with spectroscopy on the FLWO Tillinghast telescope. This approach should allow us to unleash the full potential of WISE for findi…
We present optical and infrared characterization of the polluted DAZ white dwarf GALEX J193156.8+011745. Imaging and spectroscopy from the ultraviolet to the thermal infrared indicates that the white dwarf hosts excess infrared emission consistent with the presence of an orbiting dusty debris disk. In addition to the five elements previously identified, our optical echelle spectroscopy reveals chromium and manganese and enables restrictive upper limits on several other elements. Synthesis of all detections and upper limits suggests that the white dwarf has accreted a differentiated parent body…
High CO/H2 ratios supports an exocometary origin for a CO-rich debris disk
Trinity College Dublin（都柏林三一学院）；University of Wisconsin-Madison（威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校）；Wesleyan University（卫斯理安大学）；John’s Hopkins University（约翰斯·霍普金斯大学）；Space Telescope Science Institute（太空望远镜科学研究所）；European Space Agency (ESA)（欧洲空间局）；Center for Astrophysics, Harvard and Smithsonian（哈佛-史密森尼天体物理中心）；NASA Goddard Space Flight Center（美国国家航空航天局戈达德太空飞行中心）；National Radio Astronomy Observatory（美国国家射电天文台）
We have obtained new NASA IRTF SpeX spectra of the HR 4796A debris ring system. We find a unique red excess flux that extends out to ~9 um in Spitzer IRS spectra, where thermal emission from cold, ~100K dust from the system's ring at ~75 AU takes over. Matching imaging ring photometry, we find the excess consists of NIR reflectance from the ring which is as red as that of old, processed comet nuclei, plus a tenuous thermal emission component from close-in, T ~ 850 K circumstellar material evincing an organic plus silicate emission feature complex at 7 - 13 um. Unusual, emission-like features d…
Since Protostars and Planets VI (PPVI), our knowledge of the global properties of protoplanetary and debris disks, as well as of young stars, has dramatically improved. At the time of PPVI, mm-observations and optical to near-infrared spectroscopic surveys were largely limited to the Taurus star-forming region, especially of its most massive disk and stellar population. Now, near-complete surveys of multiple star-forming regions cover both spectroscopy of young stars and mm interferometry of their protoplanetary disks. This provides an unprecedented statistical sample of stellar masses and mas…
