Debris disk explained

A debris disk (American English), or debris disc (Commonwealth English), is a circumstellar disk of dust and debris in orbit around a star. Sometimes these disks contain prominent rings, as seen in the image of Fomalhaut on the right. Debris disks are found around stars with mature planetary systems, including at least one debris disk in orbit around an evolved neutron star.[1] Debris disks can also be produced and maintained as the remnants of collisions between planetesimals, otherwise known as asteroids and comets.[2]

As of 2001, more than 900 candidate stars had been found to possess a debris disk. They are usually discovered by examining the star system in infrared light and looking for an excess of radiation beyond that emitted by the star. This excess is inferred to be radiation from the star that has been absorbed by the dust in the disk, then re-radiated away as infrared energy.[3]

Debris disks are often described as massive analogs to the debris in the Solar System. Most known debris disks have radii of 10–100 astronomical units (AU); they resemble the Kuiper belt in the Solar System, although the Kuiper belt does not have a high enough dust mass to be detected around even the nearest stars. Some debris disks contain a component of warmer dust located within 10 AU from the central star. This dust is sometimes called exozodiacal dust by analogy to zodiacal dust in the Solar System.

Observation history

In 1984 a debris disk was detected around the star Vega using the IRAS satellite. Initially this was believed to be a protoplanetary disk, but it is now known to be a debris disk due to the lack of gas in the disk and the age of the star. The first four debris disks discovered with IRAS are known as the "fabulous four": Vega, Beta Pictoris, Fomalhaut, and Epsilon Eridani. Subsequently, direct images of the Beta Pictoris disk showed irregularities in the dust, which were attributed to gravitational perturbations by an unseen exoplanet.[4] That explanation was confirmed with the 2008 discovery of the exoplanet Beta Pictoris b.[5]

Other exoplanet-hosting stars, including the first discovered by direct imaging (HR 8799), are known to also host debris disks. The nearby star 55 Cancri, a system that is also known to contain five planets, also was reported to have a debris disk,[6] but that detection could not be confirmed.[7] Structures in the debris disk around Epsilon Eridani suggest perturbations by a planetary body in orbit around that star, which may be used to constrain the mass and orbit of the planet.[8]

On 24 April 2014, NASA reported detecting debris disks in archival images of several young stars, HD 141943 and HD 191089, first viewed between 1999 and 2006 with the Hubble Space Telescope, by using newly improved imaging processes.[9]

In 2021, observations of a star, VVV-WIT-08, that became obscured for a period of 200 days may have been the result of a debris disk passing between the star and observers on Earth.[10] Two other stars, Epsilon Aurigae and TYC 2505-672-1, are reported to be eclipsed regularly and it has been determined that the phenomenon is the result of disks orbiting them in varied periods, suggesting that VVV-WIT-08 may be similar and have a much longer orbital period that just has been experienced by observers on Earth. VVV-WIT-08 is ten times the size of the Sun in the constellation of Sagittarius.

Origin

During the formation of a Sun-like star, the object passes through the T-Tauri phase during which it is surrounded by a gas-rich, disk-shaped nebula. Out of this material are formed planetesimals, which can continue accreting other planetesimals and disk material to form planets. The nebula continues to orbit the pre-main-sequence star for a period of until it is cleared out by radiation pressure and other processes. Second generation dust may then be generated about the star by collisions between the planetesimals, which forms a disk out of the resulting debris. At some point during their lifetime, at least 45% of these stars are surrounded by a debris disk, which then can be detected by the thermal emission of the dust using an infrared telescope. Repeated collisions may cause a disk to persist for much of the lifetime of a star.[11]

Typical debris disks contain small grains 1–100 μm in size. Collisions will grind down these grains to sub-micrometre sizes, which will be removed from the system by radiation pressure from the host star. In very tenuous disks such as the ones in the Solar System, the Poynting–Robertson effect can cause particles to spiral inward instead. Both processes limit the lifetime of the disk to 10 Myr or less. Thus, for a disk to remain intact, a process is needed to continually replenish the disk. This can occur, for example, by means of collisions between larger bodies, followed by a cascade that grinds down the objects to the observed small grains.[12]

For collisions to occur in a debris disk, the bodies must be gravitationally perturbed sufficiently to create relatively large collisional velocities. A planetary system around the star can cause such perturbations, as can a binary star companion or the close approach of another star.[12] The presence of a debris disk may indicate a high likelihood of exoplanets orbiting the star.[13] Furthermore, many debris disks also show structures within the dust (for example, clumps and warps or asymmetries) that point to the presence of one or more exoplanets within the disk. The presence or absence of asymmetries in our own trans-Neptunian belt remains controversial although they might exist.[14]

Known belts

Belts of dust or debris have been detected around many stars, including the Sun, including the following:

StarSpectral
class[15] 		Distance
(ly)		Orbit
(AU)		Notes
Epsilon EridaniK2V10.535–75
Tau CetiG8V11.935–50[16]
VegaA0V2586–200[17] [18]
FomalhautA3V25133–158
AU MicroscopiiM1Ve3350–150[19]
HD 181327F5.5V51.889-110[20]
HD 69830K0V41<1[21]
HD 207129G0V52148–178[22]
HD 139664F5IV–V5760–109[23]
Eta CorviF2V59100–150[24]
HD 53143K1V60?
Beta PictorisA6V6325–550
Zeta LeporisA2Vann702–8[25]
HD 92945K1V7245–175[26]
HD 107146G2V88130[27]
Gamma OphiuchiA0V95520[28]
HR 8799A5V12975[29]
51 OphiuchiB91310.5–1200[30]
HD 12039G3–5V1375[31]
HD 98800K5e (?)1501[32]
HD 15115F2V150315–550[33]
HR 4796 AA0V220200[34] [35]
HD 141569B9.5e320400
HD 113766 AF4V4300.35–5.8[36]
HD 141943
HD 191089

The orbital distance of the belt is an estimated mean distance or range, based either on direct measurement from imaging or derived from the temperature of the belt. The Earth has an average distance from the Sun of 1 AU.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Wang, Z. . Chakrabarty, D. . Kaplan, D. L. . A debris disk around an isolated young neutron star . Nature . 2006 . 440 . 7085 . 772–775 . 2006Natur.440..772W . 10.1038/nature04669 . 16598251 . astro-ph/0604076. 4372235 .
  2. News: Spitzer Sees Dusty Aftermath of Pluto-Sized Collision . NASA . 2005-01-10 . 2007-01-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060908075059/http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/Media/happenings/20051214/ . 2006-09-08 . dead .
  3. Web site: Debris Disk Database . Royal Observatory Edinburgh . 2007-01-03 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080810004849/http://www.roe.ac.uk/ukatc/research/topics/dust/identification.html . 2008-08-10.
  4. Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph Coronagraphic Observations of Beta Pictoris. Heap. S. The Astrophysical Journal . 2000. 539 . 1 . 435–444 . 10.1086/309188. astro-ph/9911363 . 2000ApJ...539..435H . free.
  5. The position of Beta Pictoris b position relative to the debris disk. Lagrange. A-M. Astronomy & Astrophysics . 2012. 542 . A40 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201118274 . 1202.2578 . 2012A&A...542A..40L . 118046185 .
  6. Web site: University Of Arizona Scientists Are First To Discover Debris Disk Around Star Orbited By Planet . ScienceDaily . 1998-10-03 . 2006-05-24 .
  7. Schneider, G. . Becklin, E. E. . Smith, B. A. . Weinberger, A. J. . Silverstone, M. . Hines, D. C. . NICMOS Coronagraphic Observations of 55 Cancri . . 121 . 1 . 2001 . 525–537 . 2001AJ....121..525S . 10.1086/318050. astro-ph/0010175 . 14503540 .
  8. Greaves, J. S. . Holland, W. S. . Wyatt, M. C. . Dent, W. R. F. . Robson, E. I. . Coulson, I. M. . Jenness, T. . Moriarty-Schieven, G. H. . Davis, G. R. . Butner, H. M. . Gear, W. K. . Dominik, C. . Walker, H. J. . Structure in the Epsilon Eridani Debris Disk . . 619 . 2005 . 2 . L187 – L190 . 10.1086/428348. 2005ApJ...619L.187G. free .
  9. Web site: Harrington . J.D. . Villard . Ray . RELEASE 14-114 Astronomical Forensics Uncover Planetary Disks in NASA's Hubble Archive . 24 April 2014 . . live . 2014-04-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140425125432/http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/april/astronomical-forensics-uncover-planetary-disks-in-nasas-hubble-archive/ . 2014-04-25 .
  10. Carpineti, Alfredo, Giant Star Obscured By Mysterious "Dark, Large, Elongated" Object Spotted By Astronomers, IFL Science, June 11, 2021
  11. Book: Thomas, Paul J. . 2006 . Comets and the origin and evolution of life . Advances in astrobiology and biogeophysics . 104 . 2nd . Springer . 3-540-33086-0 .
  12. Web site: Kenyon, Scott . Bromley, Benjamin . 2007 . Stellar Flybys & Planetary Debris Disks . Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory . 2007-07-23 .
  13. Raymond, Sean N. . Debris disks as signposts of terrestrial planet formation . . 530 . A62 . 1104.0007 . 2011 . 2011A&A...530A..62R . 10.1051/0004-6361/201116456 . 2 . Armitage . P. J. . Moro-Martín . A. . Booth . M. . Wyatt . M. C. . Armstrong . J. C. . Mandell . A. M. . Selsis . F. . West . A. A. . 119220262 .
  14. de la Fuente Marcos . Carlos . de la Fuente Marcos . Raúl . Twisted extreme trans-Neptunian orbital parameter space: statistically significant asymmetries confirmed . Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters . 512 . 1 . L6–L10 . 2202.01693 . 2022MNRAS.512L...6D . 10.1093/mnrasl/slac012 . 1 May 2022. free .
  15. Web site: SIMBAD: Query by identifiers . Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg . 2007-07-17 .
  16. Greaves, J. S. . Wyatt, M. C. . Holland, W. S. . Dent, W. R. F. . The debris disc around tau Ceti: a massive analogue to the Kuiper Belt . . 2004 . 351 . 3 . L54–L58 . 2004MNRAS.351L..54G . 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.07957.x . free .
  17. Astronomers discover possible new Solar Systems in formation around the nearby stars Vega and Fomalhaut. 1998-04-21. Joint Astronomy Centre. 2006-04-24. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20081216160151/http://outreach.jach.hawaii.edu/pressroom/1998_vega/. 2008-12-16.
  18. Backman . D. E. . Dust in beta PIC / VEGA Main Sequence Systems . . 1996 . 28 . 1056 . 1996DPS....28.0122B .
  19. News: Robert . Sanders . Dust around nearby star like powder snow . UC Berkeley News . 2007-01-08 . 2007-01-11 .
  20. Lebreton, J. . An icy Kuiper belt around the young solar-type star HD 181327 . . 2012 . 539 . 1 . A17 . 10.1051/0004-6361/201117714 . 1112.3398 . 2012A&A...539A..17L . Augereau . J.-C. . Thi . W.-F. . Roberge . A. . 4 . Donaldson . J. . Schneider . G. . Maddison . S. T. . Ménard . F. . Riviere-Marichalar . P. . Mathews . G. S. . Kamp . I. . Pinte . C. . Dent . W. R. F. . Barrado . D. . Duchêne . G. . Gonzalez . J.-F. . Grady . C. A. . Meeus . G. . Pantin . E. . Williams . J. P. . Woitke . P. . 12704582 .
  21. Lisse, C. M. . Beichman, C. A. . Bryden, G. . Wyatt, M. C. . On the Nature of the Dust in the Debris Disk around HD 69830 . . 2007 . 658 . 1 . 584–592 . 2007ApJ...658..584L . 10.1086/511001 . astro-ph/0611452 . 53460002 .
  22. Krist . John E. . HST and Spitzer Observations of the HD 207129 Debris Ring . The Astronomical Journal . 140 . 4 . 1051–1061 . October 2010 . 2010AJ....140.1051K . 10.1088/0004-6256/140/4/1051 . 1008.2793 . 2 . Stapelfeldt . Karl R. . Bryden . Geoffrey . Rieke . George H. . Su . K. Y. L. . Chen . Christine C. . Beichman . Charles A. . Hines . Dean C. . Rebull . Luisa M. . Tanner . Angelle . Trilling . David E. . Clampin . Mark . Gáspár . András . 43979052 .
  23. Kalas, Paul . Graham, James R. . Clampin, Mark C. . Fitzgerald, Michael P. . First Scattered Light Images of Debris Disks around HD 53143 and HD 139664 . . 2006 . 637 . 1 . L57–L60 . 2006ApJ...637L..57K . 10.1086/500305 . astro-ph/0601488 . 18293244 .
  24. Wyatt, M. C. . Greaves, J. S. . Dent, W. R. F. . Coulson, I. M. . Submillimeter Images of a Dusty Kuiper Belt around Corvi . The Astrophysical Journal . 2005 . 620 . 1 . 492–500 . 10.1086/426929 . 2005ApJ...620..492W. astro-ph/0411061 . 14107485 .
  25. Moerchen, M. M. . Telesco, C. M. . Packham, C. . Kehoe, T. J. J. . Mid-infrared resolution of a 3 AU-radius debris disk around Zeta Leporis . Astrophysical Journal Letters . 655 . 2 . L109 . 2006 . astro-ph/0612550 . 2007ApJ...655L.109M . 10.1086/511955 . 18073836 .
  26. Web site: Golimowski, D. . etal . 2007 . Observations and Models of the Debris Disk around K Dwarf HD 92945 . University of California, Berkeley Astronomy Department . 2007-07-17 .
  27. Williams . Detection of cool dust around the G2V star HD 107146 . Astrophysical Journal . 2004 . 604 . 1 . 414–419 . astro-ph/0311583. 10.1086/381721 . 2004ApJ...604..414W. vanc . Jonathan P. . 2 . Liu . Michael C. . Bottinelli . Sandrine . Carpenter . John M. . Hillenbrand . Lynne A. . Meyer . Michael R. . Soderblom . David R. . 18799183 .
  28. SU, K.Y.L. . The exceptionally large debris disk around γ Ophiuchi . Astrophysical Journal . 2008 . 679 . 2 . L125–L129 . 0804.2924. 10.1086/589508 . 2008ApJ...679L.125S. 1 . Rieke . G. H. . Stapelfeldt . K. R. . Smith . P. S. . Bryden . G. . Chen . C. H. . Trilling . D. E. . 9634091 .
  29. Marois . Christian . November 2008 . Direct Imaging of Multiple Planets Orbiting the Star HR 8799 . . 322 . 5906. 1348–52. 10.1126/science.1166585 . 19008415 . 2008Sci...322.1348M . 0811.2606 . 2 . MacIntosh . B. . Barman . Travis . Zuckerman . B. . Song . I. . Patience . J. . Lafreniere . D. . Doyon . R. . 206516630 . (Preprint at exoplanet.eu)
  30. 2009ApJ...703.1188S. 51 Ophiuchus: A Possible Beta Pictoris Analog Measured with the Keck Interferometer Nuller. Stark, C.. 2009. Astrophysical Journal. 703. 2. 1188–1197. 10.1088/0004-637X/703/2/1188. 0909.1821 . 1 . Kuchner . Marc J. . Traub. Wesley A.. Monnier. John D.. Serabyn. Eugene. Colavita. Mark. Koresko. Chris. Mennesson. Bertrand. Keller. Luke D.. 17938884 .
  31. Hines . The Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems (FEPS): Discovery of an Unusual Debris System Associated with HD 12039 . The Astrophysical Journal . 2006 . 638 . 2 . 1070–1079 . 2006ApJ...638.1070H . 10.1086/498929 . astro-ph/0510294 . vanc . Dean C. . 2 . Bouwman . Jeroen . Hillenbrand . Lynne A. . Carpenter . John M. . Meyer . Michael R. . Kim . Jinyoung Serena . Silverstone . Murray D. . Rodmann . Jens . Wolf . Sebastian . Mamajek . Eric E. . Brooke . Timothy Y. . Padgett . Deborah L. . Henning . Thomas . Moro-Martín . Amaya . Stobie . E. . Gordon . Karl D. . Morrison . J. E. . Muzerolle . J. . Su . K. Y. L. . 14919914 .
  32. HD 98800: A 10-Myr-Old Transition Disk . 2007-05-02 . Elise . Furlan . Sargent . Calvet . Forrest . D'Alessio . Hartmann . Watson . Green . Najita . 10.1086/519301 . The Astrophysical Journal . 664 . 2 . 1176–1184 . 0705.0380 . 2007ApJ...664.1176F. 8 . Chen . C. H. . 14027663 .
  33. Kalas, Paul . Fitzgerald, Michael P. . Graham, James R. . Discovery of Extreme Asymmetry in the Debris Disk Surrounding HD 15115 . The Astrophysical Journal . 2007 . 661 . 1 . L85–L88 . 2007ApJ...661L..85K . 10.1086/518652 . 0704.0645 . 16599464 .
  34. Koerner, D. W. . Ressler, M. E. . Werner, M. W. . Backman, D. E. . Mid-Infrared Imaging of a Circumstellar Disk around HR 4796: Mapping the Debris of Planetary Formation . Astrophysical Journal Letters . 1998 . 503 . 1 . L83 . 1998ApJ...503L..83K . 10.1086/311525. astro-ph/9806268 . 12715138 .
  35. Web site: Villard, Ray . Weinberger, Alycia . Smith, Brad . 1999-01-08 . Hubble Views of Dust Disks and Rings Surrounding Young Stars Yield Clues . HubbleSite . 2007-06-17 .
  36. News: Meyer, M. R. . Backman, D. . Belt of Material Around Star May Be First Step in Terrestrial Planet Formation . University of Arizona, NASA . 2002-01-08 . 2007-07-17 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110607234409/http://sse.jpl.nasa.gov/news/display.cfm?News_ID=2830 . 2011-06-07.

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