1,302 research outputs found
Discovery of extreme asymmetry in the debris disk surrounding HD 15115
We report the first scattered light detection of a dusty debris disk
surrounding the F2V star HD 15115 using the Hubble Space Telescope in the
optical, and Keck adaptive optics in the near-infrared. The most remarkable
property of the HD 15115 disk relative to other debris disks is its extreme
length asymmetry. The east side of the disk is detected to ~315 AU radius,
whereas the west side of the disk has radius >550 AU. We find a blue optical to
near-infrared scattered light color relative to the star that indicates grain
scattering properties similar to the AU Mic debris disk. The existence of a
large debris disk surrounding HD 15115 adds further evidence for membership in
the Beta Pic moving group, which was previously argued based on kinematics
alone. Here we hypothesize that the extreme disk asymmetry is due to dynamical
perturbations from HIP 12545, an M star 0.5 degrees (0.38 pc) east of HD 15115
that shares a common proper motion vector, heliocentric distance, galactic
space velocity, and age.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, ApJ Letters, accepte
STIS Coronagraphic Imaging of Fomalhaut: Main Belt Structure and the Orbit of Fomalhaut b
We present new optical coronagraphic data of the bright star Fomalhaut
obtained with the HST in 2010/2012 using STIS. Fomalhaut b is recovered at both
epochs to high significance. The observations include the discoveries of
tenuous nebulosity beyond the main dust belt detected to at least 209 AU
projected radius and a ~50 AU wide azimuthal gap in the belt northward of Fom
b. The morphology of Fomalhaut b appears elliptical in the STIS detections. We
show that residual noise in the processed data can plausibly result in point
sources appearing extended. A MCMC analysis demonstrates that the orbit of Fom
b is highly eccentric, with e=0.8+/-0.1, a=177+/-68 AU, and q = 32+/-24 AU. Fom
b is apsidally aligned with the belt and 90% of allowed orbits have mutual
inclination 36 deg or less. Fomalhaut b's orbit is belt-crossing in projection,
but only 12% of possible orbits have nodes within a 25 AU wide belt annulus
(133-158 AU). The high e invokes a dynamical history where Fom b may have
experienced a significant dynamical interaction with a hypothetical planet
Fomalhaut c, and the current orbital configuration may be relatively
short-lived. The new value for the periastron distance diminishes the Hill
radius of Fom b and any weakly bound satellite system surrounding a planet
would be sheared and dynamically heated at periapse. We argue that Fom b's
minimum mass is that of a dwarf planet in order for a circumplanetary satellite
system to remain bound to a sufficient radius from the planet to be consistent
with the dust scattered light hypothesis. Fom b may be optically bright because
the recent passage through periapse and/or the ascending node has increased the
erosion rates of planetary satellites. In the coplanar case, Fomalhaut b will
collide with the main belt around 2032, and the subsequent emergent phenomena
may help determine its physical nature.Comment: 49 Pages, 33 Figures, 5 Tables; Submitted to ApJ, Dec. 31, 201
Modeling Self-Subtraction in Angular Differential Imaging: Application to the HD 32297 Debris Disk
We present a new technique for forward-modeling self-subtraction of spatially
extended emission in observations processed with angular differential imaging
(ADI) algorithms. High-contrast direct imaging of circumstellar disks is
limited by quasi-static speckle noise and ADI is commonly used to suppress
those speckles. However, the application of ADI can result in self-subtraction
of the disk signal due to the disk's finite spatial extent. This signal
attenuation varies with radial separation and biases measurements of the disk's
surface brightness, thereby compromising inferences regarding the physical
processes responsible for the dust distribution. To compensate for this
attenuation, we forward-model the disk structure and compute the form of the
self-subtraction function at each separation. As a proof of concept, we apply
our method to 1.6 and 2.2 micron Keck AO NIRC2 scattered-light observations of
the HD 32297 debris disk reduced using a variant of the "locally optimized
combination of images" (LOCI) algorithm. We are able to recover disk surface
brightness that was otherwise lost to self-subtraction and produce simplified
models of the brightness distribution as it appears with and without
self-subtraction. From the latter models, we extract radial profiles for the
disk's brightness, width, midplane position, and color that are unbiased by
self-subtraction. Our analysis of these measurements indicates a break in the
brightness profile power law at r~110 AU and a disk width that increases with
separation from the star. We also verify disk curvature that displaces the
midplane by up to 30 AU towards the northwest relative to a straight fiducial
midplane.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 20 pages, 10 figures, 1 tabl
Discovery of an extended debris disk around the F2V star HD 15745
Using the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard the Hubble Space Telescope, we
have discovered dust-scattered light from the debris disk surrounding the F2V
star HD 15745. The circumstellar disk is detected between 2.0" and 7.5" radius,
corresponding to 128 - 480 AU radius. The circumstellar disk morphology is
asymmetric about the star, resembling a fan, and consistent with forward
scattering grains in an optically thin disk with an inclination of ~67 degrees
to our line of sight. The spectral energy distribution and scattered light
morphology can be approximated with a model disk composed of silicate grains
between 60 and 450 AU radius, with a total dust mass of 10E-7 M_sun (0.03
M_earth) representing a narrow grain size distribution (1 - 10 micron).
Galactic space motions are similar to the Castor Moving Group with an age of
~10E+8 yr, although future work is required to determine the age of HD 15745
using other indicators.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, ApJ Letters, in pres
Discovery of Resolved Debris Disk Around HD 131835
We report the discovery of the resolved disk around HD 131835 and present the
analysis and modeling of its thermal emission. HD 131835 is a ~15 Myr A2 star
in the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association at a distance of 122.7 +16.2 -12.8
parsec. The extended disk has been detected to ~1.5" (200 AU) at 11.7 {\mu}m
and 18.3 {\mu}m with T-ReCS on Gemini South. The disk is inclined at an angle
of ~75{\deg} with the position angle of ~61{\deg}. The flux of HD 131835 system
is 49.3+-7.6 mJy and 84+-45 mJy at 11.7 {\mu}m and 18.3 {\mu}m respectively. A
model with three grain populations gives a satisfactory fit to both the
spectral energy distribution and the images simultaneously. This best-fit model
is composed of a hot continuous power-law disk and two rings. We characterized
the grain temperature profile and found that the grains in all three
populations are emitting at temperatures higher than blackbodies. In
particular, the grains in the continuous disk are unusually warm; even when
considering small graphite particles as the composition.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for Publication in Ap
A Ring of Warm Dust in the HD 32297 Debris Disk
We report the detection of a ring of warm dust in the edge-on disk
surrounding HD 32297 with the Gemini-N/MICHELLE mid-infrared imager. Our
N'-band image shows elongated structure consistent with the orientation of the
scattered-light disk. The Fnu(11.2 um) = 49.9+/-2.1 mJy flux is significantly
above the 28.2+/-0.6 mJy photosphere. Subtraction of the stellar point spread
function reveals a bilobed structure with peaks 0.5"-0.6" from the star. An
analysis of the stellar component of the SED suggests a spectral type later
than A0, in contrast to commonly cited literature values. We fit
three-dimensional, single-size grain models of an optically thin dust ring to
our image and the SED using a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm in a Bayesian
framework. The best-fit effective grain sizes are submicron, suggesting the
same dust population is responsible for the bulk of the scattered light. The
inner boundary of the warm dust is located 0.5"-0.7" (~65 AU) from the star,
which is approximately cospatial with the outer boundary of the scattered-light
asymmetry inward of 0.5". The addition of a separate component of larger,
cooler grains that provide a portion of the 60 um flux improves both the
fidelity of the model fit and consistency with the slopes of the
scattered-light brightness profiles. Previous indirect estimates of the stellar
age (~30 Myr) indicate the dust is composed of debris. The peak vertical
optical depths in our models (~0.3-1 x 1e-2) imply that grain-grain collisions
likely play a significant role in dust dynamics and evolution. Submicron grains
can survive radiation pressure blow-out if they are icy and porous. Similarly,
the inferred warm temperatures (130-200 K) suggest that ice sublimation may
play a role in truncating the inner disk.Comment: ApJ accepted, 8 pages, 4 figure
First scattered light images of debris disks around HD 53143 and HD 139664
We present the first scattered light images of debris disks around a K star
(HD 53143) and an F star (HD 139664) using the coronagraphic mode of the
Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). With
ages 0.3 - 1 Gyr, these are among the oldest optically detected debris disks.
HD 53143, viewed ~45 degrees from edge-on, does not show radial variation in
disk structure and has width >55 AU. HD 139664 is seen close to edge-on and has
belt-like morphology with a dust peak 83 AU from the star and a distinct outer
boundary at 109 AU. We discuss evidence for significant diversity in the radial
architecture of debris disks that appears unconnected to stellar spectral type
or age. HD 139664 and possibly the solar system belong in a category of narrow
belts 20-30 AU wide. HD 53143 represents a class of wide disk architecture with
characteristic width >50 AU.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Active inference, evidence accumulation, and the urn task
Deciding how much evidence to accumulate before making a decision is a problem we and other animals often face, but one that is not completely understood. This issue is particularly important because a tendency to sample less information (often known as reflection impulsivity) is a feature in several psychopathologies, such as psychosis. A formal understanding of information sampling may therefore clarify the computational anatomy of psychopathology. In this theoretical letter, we consider evidence accumulation in terms of active (Bayesian) inference using a generic model of Markov decision processes. Here, agents are equipped with beliefs about their own behavior--in this case, that they will make informed decisions. Normative decision making is then modeled using variational Bayes to minimize surprise about choice outcomes. Under this scheme, different facets of belief updating map naturally onto the functional anatomy of the brain (at least at a heuristic level). Of particular interest is the key role played by the expected precision of beliefs about control, which we have previously suggested may be encoded by dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain. We show that manipulating expected precision strongly affects how much information an agent characteristically samples, and thus provides a possible link between impulsivity and dopaminergic dysfunction. Our study therefore represents a step toward understanding evidence accumulation in terms of neurobiologically plausible Bayesian inference and may cast light on why this process is disordered in psychopathology
ALMA and Keck analysis of Fomalhaut field sources: JWST's Great Dust Cloud is a background object
At 7.7 pc, the A-type star Fomalhaut hosts a bright debris disk with multiple
radial components. The disk is eccentric and misaligned, strongly suggesting
that it is sculpted by interaction with one or more planets. Compact sources
are now being detected with JWST, suggesting that new planet detections may be
imminent. However, to confirm such sources as companions, common proper motion
with the star must be established, as with unprecedented sensitivity comes a
high probability that planet candidates are actually background objects. Here,
ALMA and Keck observations of Fomalhaut are found to show significant emission
at the same sky location as multiple compact sources in JWST MIRI coronagraphic
observations, one of which has been dubbed the "Great Dust Cloud" because it
lies within the outer belt. Since the ground-based data were obtained between 6
to 18 years prior to the JWST observations, these compact sources are unlikely
to be common proper motion companions to Fomalhaut. More generally, this work
illustrates that images collected at a range of wavelengths can be valuable for
rejecting planet candidates uncovered via direct imaging with JWST.Comment: MNRAS in pres
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