Rings in the Planetesimal Disk of Beta Pic

The nearby main sequence star Beta Pictoris is surrounded by an edge-on disk of dust produced by the collisional erosion of larger planetesimals. Here we report the discovery of substructure within the northeast extension of the disk midplane that may represent an asymmetric ring system around Beta Pic. We present a dynamical model showing that a close stellar flyby with a quiescient disk of planetesimals can create such rings, along with previously unexplained disk asymmetries. Thus we infer that Beta Pic's planetesimal disk was highly disrupted by a stellar encounter in the last hundred thousand years.Comment: Accepted by ApJ Letters. LaTeX, 13 pages, 4 figures, full PostScript file available from http://www.maths.qmw.ac.uk/~jdl

Angular Momentum Transfer in Star-Discs Encounters: The Case of Low-Mass Discs

A prerequisite for the formation of stars and planetary systems is that angular momentum is transported in some way from the inner regions of the accretion disc. Tidal effects may play an important part in this angular momentum transport. Here the angular momentum transfer in an star-disc encounter is investigated numerically for a variety of encounter parameters in the case of low mass discs. Although good agreement is found with analytical results for the entire disc, the loss {\it inside} the disc can be up to an order of magnitude higher than previously assumed. The differences in angular momentum transport by secondaries on a hyperbolic, parabolic and elliptical path are shown, and it is found that a succession of distant encounters might be equally, if not more, successful in removing angular momentum than single close encounter.Comment: 11pages, 8 figures, 1 tabl

On the tilting of protostellar disks by resonant tidal effects

We consider the dynamics of a protostellar disk surrounding a star in a circular-orbit binary system. Our aim is to determine whether, if the disk is initially tilted with respect to the plane of the binary orbit, the inclination of the system will increase or decrease with time. The problem is formulated in the binary frame in which the tidal potential of the companion star is static. We consider a steady, flat disk that is aligned with the binary plane and investigate its linear stability with respect to tilting or warping perturbations. The dynamics is controlled by the competing effects of the m=0 and m=2 azimuthal Fourier components of the tidal potential. In the presence of dissipation, the m=0 component causes alignment of the system, while the m=2 component has the opposite tendency. We find that disks that are sufficiently large, in particular those that extend to their tidal truncation radii, are generally stable and will therefore tend to alignment with the binary plane on a time-scale comparable to that found in previous studies. However, the effect of the m=2 component is enhanced in the vicinity of resonances where the outer radius of the disk is such that the natural frequency of a global bending mode of the disk is equal to twice the binary orbital frequency. Under such circumstances, the disk can be unstable to tilting and acquire a warped shape, even in the absence of dissipation. The outer radius corresponding to the primary resonance is always smaller than the tidal truncation radius. For disks smaller than the primary resonance, the m=2 component may be able to cause a very slow growth of inclination through the effect of a near resonance that occurs close to the disk center. We discuss these results in the light of recent observations of protostellar disks in binary systems.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures, to be published in the Astrophysical Journa

The Inner Rings of Beta Pictoris

We present Keck images of the dust disk around Beta Pictoris at 17.9 microns that reveal new structure in its morphology. Within 1" (19 AU) of the star, the long axis of the dust emission is rotated by more than 10 degrees with respect to that of the overall disk. This angular offset is more pronounced than the warp detected at 3.5" by HST, and in the opposite direction. By contrast, the long axis of the emission contours at ~ 1.5" from the star is aligned with the HST warp. Emission peaks between 1.5" and 4" from the star hint at the presence of rings similar to those observed in the outer disk at ~ 25" with HST/STIS. A deconvolved image strongly suggests that the newly detected features arise from a system of four non-coplanar rings. Bayesian estimates based on the primary image lead to ring radii of 14+/-1 AU, 28+/-3 AU, 52+/-2 AU and 82+/-2 AU, with orbital inclinations that alternate in orientation relative to the overall disk and decrease in magnitude with increasing radius. We believe these new results make a strong case for the existence of a nascent planetary system around Beta Pic.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, PDF format. Published in ApJL, December 20,200

Stellar Encounters with Massive Star-Disk Systems

The dense, clustered environment in which massive stars form can lead to interactions with neighboring stars. It has been hypothesized that collisions and mergers may contribute to the growth of the most massive stars. In this paper we extend the study of star-disk interactions to explore encounters between a massive protostar and a less massive cluster sibling using the publicly available SPH code GADGET-2. Collisions do not occur in the parameter space studied, but the end state of many encounters is an eccentric binary with a semi-major axis ~ 100 AU. Disk material is sometimes captured by the impactor. Most encounters result in disruption and destruction of the initial disk, and periodic torquing of the remnant disk. We consider the effect of the changing orientation of the disk on an accretion driven jet, and the evolution of the systems in the presence of on-going accretion from the parent core.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, accepted to Ap

Disc-Disc Encounters between Low-Mass Protoplanetary Accretion Discs

Simulations of the collapse and fragmentation of turbulent molecular clouds and dense young clusters show that encounters between disc-surrounded stars are relatively common events which should significantly influence the resulting disc structure. In turn this should alter the accretion rate of disc matter onto the star and the conditions under which planet formation occurs. Although the effects of star-disc encounters have been previously investigated, very little is known about encounters where both stars are surrounded by discs. In this paper encounters of such disc-disc systems are studied quantitatively. It is found that for low-mass discs ($M_D$= 0.01 M_\sun) the results from star-disc encounters can be straightforwardly generalized to disc-disc encounters as long as there is no mass transport between the discs. Differences to star-disc encounters occur naturally where significant amounts of matter are transported between the discs. In this case it is found that although the mass distribution does not change significantly, matter caught onto highly eccentric orbits is transported surprisingly far inside the disc. The captured mass partly replenishes the disc, but has a much lower angular momentum. This can lead to a reduction of the angular momentum in the entire disc and thus considerably increased accretion shortly after the encounter as well as in the long term.Comment: 24 pages, 10 figures, accepted by Ap

The Birth of High Mass Stars: Accretion and/or Mergers?

The observational consequences of the merger scenario for massive star formation are explored and contrasted with the gradual accumulation of mass by accretion. Protostellar mergers may produce high luminosity infrared flares lasting years to centuries followed by a luminosity decline on the Kelvin-Helmholtz time-scale of the merger product. Mergers may be surrounded by thick tori of expanding debris, impulsive wide-angle outflows, and shock induced maser and radio continuum emission. Collision products are expected to have fast stellar rotation and a large multiplicity fraction. Close encounters or mergers will produce circumstellar debris disks with an orientation that differs form that of a pre-existing disk. The extremely rare merger of two stars close to the upper-mass end of the IMF may be a possible pathway to hypernova generated gamma-ray bursters. While accretional growth can lead to the formation of massive stars in isolation or in loose clusters, mergers can only occur in high-density cluster environments. It is proposed that the outflow emerging from the OMC1 core in the Orion molecular cloud was produced by a protostellar merger that released between $10^{48}$ to $10^{49}$ ergs less than a thousand years ago

Stellar Encounters with the Beta Pictoris Planetesimal System

We use data from the Hipparcos Catalog and the Barbier-Brossat & Figon (2000) catalog of stellar radial velocities to test the hypothesis that the Beta Pic planetesimal disk was disrupted by a close stellar encounter. We trace the space motions of 21,497 stars and discover 18 that have passed within 5 pc of Beta Pic in the past 1 Myr. Beta Pic's closest encounter is with the K2III star HIP 27628 (0.6 pc), but dynamically the most important encounter is with the F7V star HIP 23693 (0.9 pc). We calculate the velocity and eccentricity changes induced by the 18 perturbations and conclude that they are dynamically significant if planetesimals exist in a Beta Pic Oort cloud. We provide a first-order estimate for the evolutionary state of a Beta Pic Oort cloud and conclude that the primary role of these stellar perturbations would be to help build a comet cloud rather than destroy a pre-existing structure. The stellar sample is 20% complete and motivates future work to identify less common close interactions that would significantly modify the observed circumstellar disk. For future radial velocity study we identify six stars in the Hipparcos Catalog that may have approached Beta Pic to within 0.1 pc and therefore remain as candidate disk perturbers.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in Ap

An alpha theory of time-dependent warped accretion discs

The non-linear fluid dynamics of a warped accretion disc was investigated in an earlier paper by developing a theory of fully non-linear bending waves in a thin, viscous disc. That analysis is here extended to take proper account of thermal and radiative effects by solving an energy equation that includes viscous dissipation and radiative transport. The problem is reduced to simple one-dimensional evolutionary equations for mass and angular momentum, expressed in physical units and suitable for direct application. This result constitutes a logical generalization of the alpha theory of Shakura & Sunyaev to the case of a time-dependent warped accretion disc. The local thermal-viscous stability of such a disc is also investigated.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, to be published in MNRA

Capture Formed Binaries via Encounters with Massive Protostars

Most massive stars are found in the center of dense clusters, and have a companion fraction much higher than their lower mass siblings; the massive stars of the Trapezium core in Orion have ~ 1.5 companions each. This high multiplicity could be a consequence of formation via a capture scenario, or it could be due to fragmentation of the cores that form the massive stars. During stellar formation circumstellar disks appear to be nearly ubiquitous. Their large radii compared to stellar sizes increase the interaction radius significantly, suggesting that disk interactions with neighboring stars could assist in capturing binary companions. This mechanism has been studied for stars of approximately solar mass and found to be inefficient. In this paper we present simulations of interactions between a 22 Msun star-disk system and less massive impactors, to study the disk-assisted capture formation of binaries in a regime suited to massive stars. The formation of binaries by capture is found to be much more efficient for massive capturers. We discuss the effects of a mass dependent velocity dispersion and mass segregation on the capture rates, and consider the long term survival of the resultant binaries in a dense cluster.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, accepted to Ap