Coplanar Circumbinary Debris Disks

We present resolved Herschel images of circumbinary debris disks in the alpha CrB (HD139006) and beta Tri (HD13161) systems. We find that both disks are consistent with being aligned with the binary orbital planes. Though secular perturbations from the binary can align the disk, in both cases the alignment time at the distances at which the disk is resolved is greater than the stellar age, so we conclude that the coplanarity was primordial. Neither disk can be modelled as a narrow ring, requiring extended radial distributions. To satisfy both the Herschel and mid-IR images of the alpha CrB disk, we construct a model that extends from 1-300AU, whose radial profile is broadly consistent with a picture where planetesimal collisions are excited by secular perturbations from the binary. However, this model is also consistent with stirring by other mechanisms, such as the formation of Pluto-sized objects. The beta Tri disk model extends from 50-400AU. A model with depleted (rather than empty) inner regions also reproduces the observations and is consistent with binary and other stirring mechanisms. As part of the modelling process, we find that the Herschel PACS beam varies by as much as 10% at 70um and a few % at 100um. The 70um variation can therefore hinder image interpretation, particularly for poorly resolved objects. The number of systems in which circumbinary debris disk orientations have been compared with the binary plane is now four. More systems are needed, but a picture in which disks around very close binaries (alpha CrB, beta Tri, and HD 98800, with periods of a few weeks to a year) are aligned, and disks around wider binaries (99 Her, with a 50 yr period) are misaligned, may be emerging. This picture is qualitatively consistent with the expectation that the protoplanetary disks from which the debris emerged are more likely to be aligned if their binaries have shorter periods.Comment: accepted to MNRA

Predicting the frequencies of diverse exo-planetary systems

Extrasolar planetary systems range from hot Jupiters out to icy comet belts more distant than Pluto. We explain this diversity in a model where the mass of solids in the primordial circumstellar disk dictates the outcome. The star retains measures of the initial heavy-element (metal) abundance that can be used to map solid masses onto outcomes, and the frequencies of all classes are correctly predicted. The differing dependences on metallicity for forming massive planets and low-mass cometary bodies are also explained. By extrapolation, around two-thirds of stars have enough solids to form Earth-like planets, and a high rate is supported by the first detections of low-mass exo-planets.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures; accepted by MNRA

Searching for a dusty cometary belt around TRAPPIST-1 with ALMA

Low-mass stars might offer today the best opportunities to detect and characterize planetary systems, especially those harbouring close-in low-mass temperate planets. Among those stars, TRAPPIST-1 is exceptional since it has seven Earth-sized planets, of which three could sustain liquid water on their surfaces. Here we present new and deep ALMA observations of TRAPPIST-1 to look for an exo-Kuiper belt which can provide clues about the formation and architecture of this system. Our observations at 0.88 mm did not detect dust emission, but can place an upper limit of 23 µJy if the belt is smaller than 4 au, and 0.15 mJy if resolved and 100 au in radius. These limits correspond to low dust masses of ̃10-5 to 10-2 M⊕, which are expected after 8 Gyr of collisional evolution unless the system was born with a >20 M⊕ belt of 100 km-sized planetesimals beyond 40 au or suffered a dynamical instability. This 20 M⊕ mass upper limit is comparable to the combined mass in TRAPPIST-1 planets, thus it is possible that most of the available solid mass in this system was used to form the known planets. A similar analysis of the ALMA data on Proxima Cen leads us to conclude that a belt born with a mass ≳1 M⊕ in 100 km-sized planetesimals could explain its putative outer belt at 30 au. We recommend that future characterizations of debris discs around low-mass stars should focus on nearby and young systems if possible

ALMA and Herschel Observations of the Prototype Dusty and Polluted White Dwarf G29-38

ALMA Cycle 0 and Herschel PACS observations are reported for the prototype, nearest, and brightest example of a dusty and polluted white dwarf, G29-38. These long wavelength programs attempted to detect an outlying, parent population of bodies at 1-100 AU, from which originates the disrupted planetesimal debris that is observed within 0.01 AU and which exhibits L_IR/L = 0.039. No associated emission sources were detected in any of the data down to L_IR/L ~ 1e-4, generally ruling out cold dust masses greater than 1e24 - 1e25 g for reasonable grain sizes and properties in orbital regions corresponding to evolved versions of both asteroid and Kuiper belt analogs. Overall, these null detections are consistent with models of long-term collisional evolution in planetesimal disks, and the source regions for the disrupted parent bodies at stars like G29-38 may only be salient in exceptional circumstances, such as a recent instability. A larger sample of polluted white dwarfs, targeted with the full ALMA array, has the potential to unambiguously identify the parent source(s) of their planetary debris.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures and 1 table. Accepted to MNRA

Steady-state evolution of debris disks around A stars

In this paper a simple analytical model for the steady-state evolution of debris disks due to collisions is confronted with Spitzer observations of main sequence A stars. All stars are assumed to have planetesimal belts with a distribution of initial masses and radii. In the model disk mass is constant until the largest planetesimals reach collisional equilibrium whereupon the mass falls off oc 1/t. We find that the detection statistics and trends seen at both 24 and 70um can be fitted well by the model. While there is no need to invoke stochastic evolution or delayed stirring to explain the statistics, a moderate rate of stochastic events is not ruled out. Potentially anomalous systems are identified by a high dust luminosity compared with the maximum permissible in the model (HD3003, HD38678, HD115892, HD172555). Their planetesimals may have unusual properties (high strength or low eccentricity) or this dust could be transient. While transient phenomena are also favored for a few systems in the literature, the overall success of our model, which assumes planetesimals in all belts have the same strength, eccentricity and maximum size, suggests a large degree of uniformity in the outcome of planet formation. The distribution of planetesimal belt radii, once corrected for detection bias, follows N(r) oc r^{-0.8+-0.3} for 3-120AU. Since the inner edge is often attributed to an unseen planet, this provides a unique constraint on the planetary systems of A stars. It is also shown that P-R drag may sculpt the inner edges of A star disks close to the Spitzer detection threshold (HD2262, HD19356, HD106591, HD115892). This model can be readily applied to the interpretation of future surveys, and predictions are made for the upcoming SCUBA-2 survey, including that >17% of A stars should be detectable at 850um.Comment: Accepted by Ap

Asymmetric Heating of the HR 4796A Dust Ring Due to Pericenter Glow

We have obtained new resolved images of the well-studied HR 4796A dust ring at 18 and 25 microns with the 8-meter Gemini telescopes. These images confirm the previously observed spatial extent seen in mid-IR, near-IR, and optical images of the source. We detect brightness and temperature asymmetries such that dust on the NE side is both brighter and warmer than dust in the SW. We show that models of so-called pericenter glow account for these asymmetries, thus both confirming and extending our previous analyses. In this scenario, the center of the dust ring is offset from the star due to gravitational perturbations of a body with an eccentric orbit that has induced a forced eccentricity on the dust particle orbits. Models with 2-micron silicate dust particles and a forced eccentricity of 0.06 simultaneously fit the observations at both wavelengths. We also show that parameters used to characterize the thermal-emission properties of the disk can also account for the disk asymmetry observed in shorter-wavelength scattered-light images.Comment: accepted for publication in A&A; 7 pages, 4 figure

Combined visible and near-infrared OPA for wavelength scaling experiments in strong-field physics

We report the operation of an optical parametric amplifier (OPA) capable of producing gigawatt peak-power laser pulses with tunable wavelength in either the visible or near-infrared spectrum. The OPA has two distinct operation modes (i) generation of >350 uJ, sub 100 fs pulses, tunable between 1250 - 1550 nm; (ii) generation of >190 uJ, sub 150 fs pulses tunable between 490 - 530 nm. We have recorded high-order harmonic spectra over a wide range of driving wavelengths. This flexible source of femtosecond pulses presents a useful tool for exploring the wavelength-dependence of strong-field phenomena, in both the multi-photon and tunnel ionization regimes.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures, This paper was published in Proceedings of SPIE 10088, Nonlinear Frequency Generation and Conversion: Materials and Devices XVI, doi 10.1117/12.225077

Debris discs around nearby Solar analogues

An unbiased search for debris discs around nearby Sun-like stars is reported. Thirteen G-dwarfs at 12-15 parsecs distance were searched at 850 \umum wavelength, and a disc is confirmed around HD 30495. The estimated dust mass is 0.008 M$_{\oplus}$ with a net limit \la 0.0025 M$_{\oplus}$ for the average disc of the other stars. The results suggest there is not a large missed population of substantial cold discs around Sun-like stars -- HD 30495 is a bright rather than unusually cool disc, and may belong to a few hundred Myr-old population of greater dust luminosity. The far-infared and millimetre survey data for Sun-like stars are well fitted by either steady state or stirred models, provided that typical comet belts are comparable in size to that in the Solar System.Comment: published in MNRA

Multi-Epoch Observations of HD69830: High Resolution Spectroscopy and Limits to Variability

The main-sequence solar-type star HD69830 has an unusually large amount of dusty debris orbiting close to three planets found via the radial velocity technique. In order to explore the dynamical interaction between the dust and planets, we have performed multi-epoch photometry and spectroscopy of the system over several orbits of the outer dust. We find no evidence for changes in either the dust amount or its composition, with upper limits of 5-7% (1 $\sigma$ per spectral element) on the variability of the {\it dust spectrum} over 1 year, 3.3% (1 $\sigma$) on the broad-band disk emission over 4 years, and 33% (1 $\sigma$) on the broad-band disk emission over 24 years. Detailed modeling of the spectrum of the emitting dust indicates that the dust is located outside of the orbits of the three planets and has a composition similar to main-belt, C-type asteroids asteroids in our solar system. Additionally, we find no evidence for a wide variety of gas species associated with the dust. Our new higher SNR spectra do not confirm our previously claimed detection of H$_2$O ice leading to a firm conclusion that the debris can be associated with the break-up of one or more C-type asteroids formed in the dry, inner regions of the protoplanetary disk of the HD69830 system. The modeling of the spectral energy distribution and high spatial resolution observations in the mid-infrared are consistent with a $\sim$ 1 AU location for the emitting material

Collisional modelling of the AU Microscopii debris disc

The spatially resolved AU Mic debris disc is among the most famous and best-studied debris discs. We aim at a comprehensive understanding of the dust production and the dynamics of the disc objects with in depth collisional modelling including stellar radiative and corpuscular forces. Our models are compared to a suite of observational data for thermal and scattered light emission, ranging from the ALMA radial surface brightness profile at 1.3mm to polarisation measurements in the visible. Most of the data can be reproduced with a planetesimal belt having an outer edge at around 40au and subsequent inward transport of dust by stellar winds. A low dynamical excitation of the planetesimals with eccentricities up to 0.03 is preferred. The radial width of the planetesimal belt cannot be constrained tightly. Belts that are 5au and 17au wide, as well as a broad 44au-wide belt are consistent with observations. All models show surface density profiles increasing with distance from the star as inferred from observations. The best model is achieved by assuming a stellar mass loss rate that exceeds the solar one by a factor of 50. While the SED and the shape of the ALMA profile are well reproduced, the models deviate from the scattered light data more strongly. The observations show a bluer disc colour and a lower degree of polarisation for projected distances <40au than predicted by the models. The problem may be mitigated by irregularly-shaped dust grains which have scattering properties different from the Mie spheres used. From tests with a handful of selected dust materials, we derive a preference for mixtures of silicate, carbon, and ice of moderate porosity. We address the origin of the unresolved central excess emission detected by ALMA and show that it cannot stem from an additional inner belt alone. Instead, it should derive, at least partly, from the chromosphere of the central star.Comment: Astronomy and Astrophysics (accepted for publication), 18 pages, 11 figure