Published November 1, 2016 | Version v1
Journal article

HERSCHEL -RESOLVED OUTER BELTS OF TWO-BELT DEBRIS DISKS—EVIDENCE OF ICY GRAINS

  • 1. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States)

Description

We present dual-band Herschel /PACS imaging for 59 main-sequence stars with known warm dust ( T warm ∼ 200 K), characterized by Spitzer . Of 57 debris disks detected at Herschel wavelengths (70 and/or 100 and 160 μ m), about half have spectral energy distributions (SEDs) that suggest two-ring disk architectures mirroring that of the asteroid–Kuiper Belt geometry; the rest are consistent with single belts of warm, asteroidal material. Herschel observations spatially resolve the outer/cold dust component around 14 A-type and 4 solar-type stars with two-belt systems, 15 of which for the first time. Resolved disks are typically observed with radii >100 AU, larger than expected from a simple blackbody fit. Despite the absence of narrow spectral features for ice, we find that the shape of the continuum, combined with resolved outer/cold dust locations, can help constrain the grain size distribution and hint at the dust's composition for each resolved system. Based on the combined Spitzer /IRS+Multiband Imaging Photometer (5-to-70 μ m) and Herschel /PACS (70-to-160 μ m) data set, and under the assumption of idealized spherical grains, we find that over half of resolved outer/cold belts are best fit with a mixed ice/rock composition. Minimum grain sizes are most often equal to the expected radiative blowout limit, regardless of composition. Three of four resolved systems around the solar-type stars, however, tend to have larger minimum grains compared to expectation from blowout ( f MB = a min/ a BOS ∼ 5). We also probe the disk architecture of 39 Herschel -unresolved systems by modeling their SEDs uniformly, and find them to be consistent with 31 single- and 8 two-belt debris systems.

Availability note (English)

Available from http://dx.doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/831/1/97

Additional details

Identifiers

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Astrophysical Journal
Journal Volume
831
Journal Issue
1
Journal Page Range
[29 p.]
ISSN
0004-637X
CODEN
ASJOAB