Herschel imaging of 61Vir: implications for the prevalence of debris in low-mass planetary systems
Article
Article Title | Herschel imaging of 61Vir: implications for the prevalence of debris in low-mass planetary systems |
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ERA Journal ID | 1074 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | Wyatt, M. C. (Author), Kennedy, G. (Author), Sibthorpe, B. (Author), Moro-Martin, A. (Author), Lestrade, J. -F. (Author), Ivison, R. J. (Author), Matthews, B. (Author), Udry, S. (Author), Greaves, J. S. (Author), Kalas, P. (Author), Lawler, S. (Author), Su, K. Y. L. (Author), Rieke, G. H. (Author), Booth, M. (Author), Bryden, G. (Author), Horner, J. (Author), Kavelaars, J. J. (Author) and Wilner, D. (Author) |
Journal Title | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |
Journal Citation | 424 (2), pp. 1206-1223 |
Number of Pages | 18 |
Year | 2012 |
Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Place of Publication | United Kingdom |
ISSN | 0035-8711 |
1365-2966 | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.21298.x |
Web Address (URL) | https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/424/2/1206/998992 |
Abstract | This paper describes Herschel observations of the nearby (8.5pc) G5V multi-exoplanet host star 61Vir at 70, 100, 160, 250, 350 and 500m carried out as part of the DEBRIS survey. These observations reveal emission that is significantly extended out to a distance of >15arcsec with a morphology that can be fitted by a nearly edge-on (77° inclination) radially broad (from 30au out to at least 100au) debris disc of fractional luminosity 2.7 × 10 -5, with two additional (presumably unrelated) sources nearby that become more prominent at longer wavelengths. Chance alignment with a background object seen at 1.4GHz provides potential for confusion, however, the star's 1.4arcsecyr -1 proper motion allows archival Spitzer 70m images to confirm that what we are interpreting as disc emission really is circumstellar. Although the exact shape of the disc's inner edge is not well constrained, the region inside 30au must be significantly depleted in planetesimals. This is readily explained if there are additional planets outside those already known (i.e. in the 0.5-30au region), but is also consistent with collisional erosion. We also find tentative evidence that the presence of detectable debris around nearby stars correlates with the presence of the lowest mass planets that are detectable in current radial velocity surveys. Out of an unbiased sample of the nearest 60G stars, 11 are known to have planets, of which six (including 61Vir) have planets that are all less massive than Saturn, and four of these have evidence for debris. The debris towards one of these planet hosts (HD20794) is reported here for the first time. This fraction (4/6) is higher than that expected for nearby field stars (15per cent), and implies that systems that form low-mass planets are also able to retain bright debris discs. We suggest that this correlation could arise because such planetary systems are dynamically stable and include regions that are populated with planetesimals in the formation process where the planetesimals can remain unperturbed over Gyr time-scales. |
Keywords | cCircumstellar matter; planet-disc interactions; planetary systems; planets and satellites formation |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 510109. Stellar astronomy and planetary systems |
510105. General relativity and gravitational waves | |
519999. Other physical sciences not elsewhere classified | |
Public Notes | This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2012 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. |
Byline Affiliations | University of Cambridge, United Kingdom |
Royal Observatory Edinburgh, United Kingdom | |
Spanish Astrobiology Centre, Spain | |
Paris Observatory, France | |
Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Centre, Canada | |
University of Geneva, Switzerland | |
University of St Andrews, United Kingdom | |
University of California, United States | |
University of British Columbia, Canada | |
University of Arizona, United States | |
California Institute of Technology (Caltech), United States | |
University of New South Wales | |
Center for Astrophysics Harvard and Smithsonian, United States | |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q2812/herschel-imaging-of-61vir-implications-for-the-prevalence-of-debris-in-low-mass-planetary-systems
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