| 1. |
- Boccaletti, Anthony, et al.
(author)
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Fast-moving features in the debris disk around AU Microscopii
- 2015
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 526:7572, s. 230-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In the 1980s, excess infrared emission was discovered around main-sequence stars; subsequent direct-imaging observations revealed orbiting disks of cold dust to be the source(1). These 'debris disks' were thought to be by-products of planet formation because they often exhibited morphological and brightness asymmetries that may result from gravitational perturbation by planets. This was proved to be true for the beta Pictoris system, in which the known planet generates an observable warp in the disk(2-5). The nearby, young, unusually active late-type star AU Microscopii hosts a well-studied edge-on debris disk; earlier observations in the visible and near-infrared found asymmetric localized structures in the form of intensity variations along the midplane of the disk beyond a distance of 20 astronomical units(6-9). Here we report high-contrast imaging that reveals a series of five large-scale features in the southeast side of the disk, at projected separations of 10-60 astronomical units, persisting over intervals of 1-4 years. All these features appear to move away from the star at projected speeds of 4-10 kilometres per second, suggesting highly eccentric or unbound trajectories if they are associated with physical entities. The origin, localization, morphology and rapid evolution of these features are difficult to reconcile with current theories.
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| 2. |
- de Leon, Jerome, et al.
(author)
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NEAR-IR HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGING POLARIMETRY OF THE SU Aur DISK : CLUES FOR TIDAL TAILS?
- 2015
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In: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 806:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present new high-resolution (similar to 0.09) H-band imaging observations of the circumstellar disk around the T Tauri star SU Aur. Our observations with Subaru-HiCIAO have revealed the presence of scattered light as close as 0.15 (similar to 20 AU) to the star. Within our image, we identify bright emission associated with a disk with a minimum radius of similar to 90 AU, an inclination of similar to 35 degrees from the plane of the sky, and an approximate PA of 15 degrees for the major axis. We find a brightness asymmetry between the northern and southern sides of the disk due to a non-axisymmetric disk structure. We also identify a pair of asymmetric tail structures extending east and west from the disk. The western tail extends at least 2.5 (350 AU) from the star, and is probably associated with a reflection nebula previously observed at optical and near-IR wavelengths. The eastern tail extends at least 1. (140 AU) at the present signal-to-noise. These tails are likely due to an encounter with an unseen brown dwarf, but our results do not exclude the explanation that these tails are outflow cavities or jets.
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| 3. |
- Mayama, Satoshi, et al.
(author)
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Subaru Near-infrared Imaging Polarimetry of Misaligned Disks around the SR 24 Hierarchical Triple System
- 2020
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In: Astronomical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-6256 .- 1538-3881. ; 159:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The SR 24 multistar system hosts both circumprimary and circumsecondary disks, which are strongly misaligned with each other. The circumsecondary disk is circumbinary in nature. Interestingly, both disks are interacting, and they possibly rotate in opposite directions. To investigate the nature of this unique twin disk system, we present 01 resolution near-infrared polarized intensity images of the circumstellar structures around SR 24, obtained with HiCIAO mounted on the Subaru 8.2 m telescope. Both the circumprimary disk and the circumsecondary disk are resolved and have elongated features. While the position angle of the major axis and radius of the near-IR (NIR) polarization disk around SR 24S are 55° and 137 au, respectively, those around SR 24N are 110° and 34 au, respectively. With regard to overall morphology, the circumprimary disk around SR 24S shows strong asymmetry, whereas the circumsecondary disk around SR 24N shows relatively strong symmetry. Our NIR observations confirm the previous claim that the circumprimary and circumsecondary disks are misaligned from each other. Both the circumprimary and circumsecondary disks show similar structures in 12CO observations in terms of its size and elongation direction. This consistency is because both NIR and 12CO are tracing surface layers of the flared disks. As the radius of the polarization disk around SR 24N is roughly consistent with the size of the outer Roche lobe, it is natural to interpret the polarization disk around SR 24N as a circumbinary disk surrounding the SR 24Nb–Nc system.
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| 4. |
- Momose, Munetake, et al.
(author)
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Detailed structure of the outer disk around HD169142 with polarized light in H-band
- 2015
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In: Nippon Tenmon Gakkai obun kenkyu hokoku. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0004-6264. ; 67:5
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Coronagraphic imagery of the circumstellar disk around HD 169142 in H-band polarized intensity (PI) with Subaru/HiCIAO is presented. The emission scattered by dust particles at the disk surface in 0.2 <= r <= 1.2, or 29 <= r <= 174 AU, is successfully detected. The azimuthally-averaged radial profile of the PI shows a double power-law distribution, in which the PIs in r=29-52 AU and r=81.2-145 AU respectively show r(-3)-dependence. These two power-law regions are connected smoothly with a transition zone (TZ), exhibiting an apparent gap in r=40-70 AU. The PI in the inner power-law region shows a deep minimum whose location seems to coincide with the point source at lambda = 7 mm. This can be regarded as another sign of a protoplanet in TZ. The observed radial profile of the PI is reproduced by a minimally flaring disk with an irregular surface density distribution or with an irregular temperature distribution or with the combination of both. The depletion factor of surface density in the inner power-law region (r<50 AU) is derived to be >= 0.16 from a simple model calculation. The obtained PI image also shows small scale asymmetries in the outer power-law region. Possible origins for these asymmetries include corrugation of the scattering surface in the outer region, and shadowing effect by a puffed up structure in the inner power-law region.
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| 5. |
- Rich, Evan A., et al.
(author)
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Multi-epoch Direct Imaging and Time-variable Scattered Light Morphology of the HD 163296 Protoplanetary Disk
- 2019
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 875:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present H-band polarized scattered light imagery and JHK high-contrast spectroscopy of the protoplanetary disk around HD 163296 observed with the High-Contrast Coronographic Imager for Adaptive Optics (HiCIAO) and Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics (SCExAO)/Coronagraphic High Angular Resolution Imaging Spectrograph (CHARTS) instruments at Subaru Observatory. The polarimetric imagery resolve a broken ring structure surrounding HD 163296 that peaks at a distance along the major axis of 0 ''.65 (66 au) and extends out to 0 ''.98 (100 au) along the major axis. Our 2011 H-band data exhibit clear axisymmetry, with the NW and SE side of the disk exhibiting similar intensities. Our data are clearly different from 2016 epoch H-band observations of the Very Large Telescope (VLT)/Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE), which found a strong 2.7 x asymmetry between the NW and SE side of the disk. Collectively, these results indicate the presence of time-variable, non-azimuthally symmetric illumination of the outer disk. While our SCExAO/CHARIS data are sensitive enough to recover the planet candidate identified from NIRC2 in the thermal infrared (IR), we fail to detect an object with JHK brightness nominally consistent with this object. This suggests that the candidate is either fainter in JHK bands than model predictions, possibly due to extinction from the disk or atmospheric dust/clouds, or that it is an artifact of the data set/data processing, such as a residual speckle or partially subtracted disk feature. Assuming standard hot-start evolutionary models and a system age of 5 Myr, we set new, direct mass limits for the inner (outer) Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)-predicted protoplanet candidate along the major (minor) disk axis of of 1.5 (2) M-J.
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| 6. |
- Yang, Yi, et al.
(author)
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High-contrast Polarimetry Observation of the T Tau Circumstellar Environment
- 2018
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 861:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We conducted high-contrast polarimetry observations of T Tau in the H-band, using the High Contrast Instrument for the Subaru Next Generation Adaptive Optics instrument mounted on the Subaru Telescope, revealing structures as near as 0 1 from the stars T Tau N and T Tau S. The whole T Tau system is found to be surrounded by nebulalike envelopes, and several outflow-related structures are detected in these envelopes. We analyzed the detailed polarization patterns of the circumstellar structures near each component of this triple young star system and determined constraints on the circumstellar disks and outflow structures. We suggest that the nearly face-on circumstellar disk of T Tau N is no larger than 0.''8, or 117 au, in the northwest, based on the existence of a hole in this direction, and no larger than 0.''27, or 40 au, in the south. A new structure, N5, extends to about 0.''42, or 59 au, southwest of the star, and is believed to be part of the disk. We suggest that T Tau S is surrounded by a highly inclined circumbinary disk with a radius of about 0.''3, or 44 au, with a position angle of about 30 degrees, that is misaligned with the orbit of the T Tau S binary. After analyzing the positions and polarization vector patterns of the outflow-related structures, we suggest that T Tau S should trigger the well-known E-W outflow, and is also likely to be responsible for a southwest precessing outflow coil and a possible south outflow.
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| 7. |
- Akiyama, Eiji, et al.
(author)
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SPIRAL STRUCTURE AND DIFFERENTIAL DUST SIZE DISTRIBUTION IN THE LkH alpha 330 DISK
- 2016
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In: Astronomical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-6256 .- 1538-3881. ; 152:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Dust trapping accelerates the coagulation of dust particles, and, thus, it represents an initial step toward the formation of planetesimals. We report H-band (1.6 mu m) linear polarimetric observations and 0.87 mm interferometric continuum observations toward a transitional disk around LkH alpha 330. As a. result, a pair of spiral arms were detected in the H-band emission, and an asymmetric (potentially arm-like) structure was detected in the 0.87 mm continuum emission. We discuss the origin of the spiral arm and the asymmetric structure. and suggest that a massive unseen planet is the most plausible explanation. The possibility of dust trapping and grain growth causing the asymmetric structure was also investigated through the opacity index (beta) by plotting the observed spectral energy distribution slope between 0.87 mm from our Submillimeter Array observation and 1.3 mm from literature. The results imply that grains are indistinguishable from interstellar medium-like dust in the east side (beta = 2.0 +/- 0.5) but are much smaller in the west side beta = 0.7(-0.4)(+0.5), indicating differential dust size distribution between the two sides of the disk. Combining the results of near-infrared and submillimeter observations, we conjecture that the spiral arms exist at the upper surface and an asymmetric structure resides in the disk interior. Future observations at centimeter wavelengths and differential polarization imaging in other bands (Y-K) with extreme AO imagers are required to understand how large dust grains form and to further explore the dust distribution in the disk.
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| 8. |
- Follette, Katherine B., et al.
(author)
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SEEDS ADAPTIVE OPTICS IMAGING OF THE ASYMMETRIC TRANSITION DISK OPH IRS 48 IN SCATTERED LIGHT
- 2015
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In: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 798:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present the first resolved near-infrared imagery of the transition disk Oph IRS 48 (WLY 2-48), which was recently observed with ALMA to have a strongly asymmetric submillimeter flux distribution. H-band polarized intensity images show a similar to 60 AU radius scattered light cavity with two pronounced arcs of emission, one from northeast to southeast and one smaller, fainter, and more distant arc in the northwest. K-band scattered light imagery reveals a similar morphology, but with a clear third arc along the southwestern rim of the disk cavity. This arc meets the northwestern arc at nearly a right angle, revealing the presence of a spiral arm or local surface brightness deficit in the disk, and explaining the east-west brightness asymmetry in the H-band data. We also present 0.8-5.4 mu m IRTF SpeX spectra of this object, which allow us to constrain the spectral class to A0 +/- 1 and measure a low mass accretion rate of 10(-8.5) M-circle dot yr(-1), both consistent with previous estimates. We investigate a variety of reddening laws in order to fit the multiwavelength spectral energy distribution of Oph IRS 48 and find a best fit consistent with a younger, higher luminosity star than previous estimates.
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| 9. |
- Janson, Markus, et al.
(author)
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DETECTION OF SHARP SYMMETRIC FEATURES IN THE CIRCUMBINARY DISK AROUND AK Sco
- 2016
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In: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 816:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Search for Planets Orbiting Two Stars survey aims to study the formation and distribution of planets in binary systems by detecting and characterizing circumbinary planets and their formation environments through direct imaging. With the SPHERE Extreme Adaptive Optics instrument, a good contrast can be achieved even at small (< 300 mas) separations from bright stars, which enables studies of planets and disks in a separation range that was previously inaccessible. Here, we report the discovery of resolved scattered light emission from the circumbinary disk around the well-studied young double star AK. Sco, at projected separations in the similar to 13-40 AU range. The sharp morphology of the imaged feature is surprising, given the smooth appearance of the disk in its spectral energy distribution. We show that the observed morphology can be represented either as a highly eccentric ring around AK Sco, or as two separate spiral arms in the disk, wound in opposite directions. The relative merits of these interpretations are discussed, as well as whether these features may have been caused by one or several circumbinary planets interacting with the disk.
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| 10. |
- Janson, Markus, et al.
(author)
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High-contrast imaging with Spitzer : deep observations of Vega, Fomalhaut, and is an element of Eridani
- 2015
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 574
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Stars with debris disks are intriguing targets for direct imaging exoplanet searches, owing both to previous detections of wide planets in debris disk systems. and to commonly existing morphological features in the disks themselves that may be indicative of a planetary influence. Here we present observations of three of the most nearby young stars, which are also known to host massive debris disks: Vega. Fomalhaut, and c Fri. The Spitzer Space Telescope is used at a range of orientation angles for each star to supply a deep conumst through angular differential imaging combined with high contrast algorithms. The observations provide the opportunity to probe substantially colder bound planets (120-330 I() than is possible with any other technique or instrument. For Vega, sonic apparently very red candidate point sources detected in the 4.5 pm image remain to be tested for common proper motion. The images are sensitive to similar to 2 M-JUP companions at 150 AU in this system. The observations presented here represent the first search for planets around Vega using Spitzer. The upper 4.5 mu m flux limit on Fomalhaut b could be further constrained relative to previous data ln the case of is an element of Ed, planets below both the effective temperature and the mass of Jupiter could be probed from 80 AU and outward, although no such planets were found. The data sensitively probe the regions around the edges of the debris rings in the systems where planets can be expected to reside. These observations validate previous results showing that more than an order of magnitude improvement in performance in the contrast -limited regime can be acquired with respect to conventional methods by applying sophisticated high contrast techniques to space based telescopes, thanks to the high degree of PSF stability provided in this environment.
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