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A Possible Icy Kuiper Belt around HD 181327
- Publication Year :
- 2008
-
Abstract
- We have obtained a Gemini South T-ReCS Qa-band (18.3 micron) image and a Spitzer MIPS SED-mode observation of HD181327, an F5/F6V member of the ~12 Myr old beta Pictoris moving group. We resolve the disk in thermal-emission for the first time and find that the northern arm of the disk is 1.4x brighter than the southern arm. In addition, we detect a broad peak in the combined Spitzer IRS and MIPS spectra at 60 - 75 micron that may be produced by emission from crystalline water ice. We model the IRS and MIPS data using a size distribution of amorphous olivine and water ice grains (dn/da proportional to a^{-2.25} with a_{min} consistent with the minimum blow out size and a_{max} = 20 micron) located at a distance of 86.3 AU from the central star, as observed in previously published scattered-light images. Since the photo-desorption lifetime for the icy particles is ~1400 yr, significantly less than the estimated ~12 Myr age of the system, we hypothesize that we have detected debris that may be steadily replenished by collisions among icy Kuiper belt object-like parent bodies in a newly forming planetary system.<br />Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures (including 3 color figures), ApJ, in press
- Subjects :
- Astrophysics
Subjects
Details
- Database :
- arXiv
- Publication Type :
- Report
- Accession number :
- edsarx.0808.2273
- Document Type :
- Working Paper
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1086/592567