DOCSLIB.ORG

278026492-Oa

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
278026492-Oa LETTERS https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-018-0667-x Corrected: Publisher Correction A circumbinary protoplanetary disk in a polar configuration Grant M. Kennedy 1,2*, Luca Matrà3, Stefano Facchini 4,5, Julien Milli6, Olja Panić7, Daniel Price 8,9, David J. Wilner 3, Mark C. Wyatt10 and Ben M. Yelverton10 Nearly all young stars are initially surrounded by ‘protoplan- circumbinary debris disk 99 Herculis is thought to have a polar con- etary’ disks of gas and dust, and in the case of single stars at figuration13, this disk is four times larger than Neptune’s orbit and, least 30% of these disks go on to form planets1. The process with an age similar to the Solar System, does not provide evidence of protoplanetary disk formation can result in initial misalign- that young gas-rich polar circumbinary disks exist. ments, where the disk orbital plane is different from the stel- Here, we report that the circumbinary disk in the young HD lar equator in single-star systems, or different from the binary 98800 system is strongly misaligned with the binary orbital plane. orbital plane in systems with two stars2. A quirk of the dynam- We infer that the disk is in the polar configuration by simulating the ics means that initially misaligned ‘circumbinary’ disks— disk dynamics. We further show that despite this misalignment, the those that surround two stars—are predicted to evolve to disk shows physical properties similar to disks seen around young one of two possible stable configurations: one where the disk single stars. and binary orbital planes are coplanar and one where they are The HD 98800 system is a well-known hierarchical quadruple perpendicular (a ‘polar’ configuration)3–5. Previous work has star system 44.9 parsecs from Earth14, and a member of the ~10-Myr- found coplanar circumbinary disks6, but no polar examples old TW Hydrae association15,16. It consists of two pairs of binaries were known until now. Here, we report the first discovery of (called ‘A’ and ‘B’, or equally ‘AaAb’ and ‘BaBb’) with semi-major a protoplanetary circumbinary disk in the polar configura- axes of about 1 astronomical unit (au), which themselves orbit tion, supporting the predictions that such disks should exist. each other with a semi-major axis of 54 au. The binary BaBb is well The disk shows some characteristics that are similar to disks characterized17, with an eccentricity of 0.785 ± 0.005, an ascending around single stars, and that are attributed to dust growth. node of 337.6 ± 2.4° anti-clockwise from north and an inclination of Thus, the first stages of planet formation appear able to pro- 67 ± 3°. Using the new data presented here, we derive a new orbit for ceed in polar circumbinary disks. AB (see Supplementary Information), which has an eccentricity of The process of star and disk formation is not guaranteed to yield 0.52 ± 0.01 and a period of 246 ± 5 years, with an ascending node of a simple coplanar circumstellar disk, as might be surmised from the 4.7 ± 0.2° and an inclination of 88.4 ± 2°. These orbits, as projected coplanar nature of the Solar System. Simulations suggest that once a on the sky plane, are shown in Fig. 1. The AaAb orbit is less certain, protoplanetary disk has initially formed around a star or stars, fur- but the details do not affect our conclusions. ther accretion of material with different angular momenta can result The northern pair known as HD 98800BaBb has been known to in disks with multiple orbital planes, or disks whose orbital planes host a bright circumbinary disk since its discovery in the 1980s18. are different from the binary stars they orbit2. IRS 43 appears to be a The disk is thought to be influenced by the stellar system19, with very young system with a misaligned circumbinary disk7—evidence the inner edge of the disk truncated by the inner binary BaBb, and that the initial conditions suggested by simulations do indeed occur. the outer edge externally truncated by A20,21. The orientation of the Theory suggests that circumbinary disks should then evolve to disk was initially thought to be coplanar with the inner binary20, one of two possible configurations—a quirk dictated by the orbital but higher-resolution observations suggest a different orientation21 dynamics around two stars. For small initial misalignments, the (see Methods for a comparison with our results). Whether the disk angular momentum vector of circumbinary orbits Lc precesses harbours a significant mass of gas has been unclear, meaning that it 21,22 about the binary angular momentum vector Lb (a ‘coplanar’ family has been interpreted as both a gas-rich ‘protoplanetary’ disk and 23 of orbits), but for larger misalignments Lc precesses about a vector in a gas-poor ‘debris’ disk . The detection of oxygen towards the sys- 8 24 25 the binary’s pericentre direction ϖb (a ‘polar’ family) . Because the tem , and molecular hydrogen emission towards B , suggests that disks that orbit young stars are gas rich and hence dissipative, an ini- this pair is accreting from a gas-rich disk, favouring the gas-rich tially misaligned circumbinary disk will generally evolve to an end ‘protoplanetary’ disk interpretation. state that belongs to one of these two families3–5,9–11. The expected To ascertain the disk orientation, size, structure and evolution- timescale for this reorientation is generally shorter than the typical ary status, we observed the HD 98800 system with the Atacama ~3 Myr disk lifetime12, meaning that young gas-rich circumbinary Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA; see Methods). Data disks are most likely to be observed to be in one of the two possible were taken at 230 GHz (1.3 mm), to image dust continuum emis- orientations, rather than at an intermediate orientation. While the sion and the carbon monoxide J = 2–1 rotational transition, and 1Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK. 2Centre for Exoplanets and Habitability, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK. 3Harvard– Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA, USA. 4Max-Planck-Institut für Extraterrestrische Physik, Garching, Germany. 5European Southern Observatory, Garching, Germany. 6European Southern Observatory, Santiago, Chile. 7School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK. 8Monash Centre for Astrophysics, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 9School of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 10Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. *e-mail: [email protected] 230 NATURE ASTRonomy | VOL 3 | MARCH 2019 | 230–235 | www.nature.com/natureastronomy NATURE ASTRONOMY LETTERS 2.0 5 AU 1 AU –24° 46′ 38.5″ 1.5 –24° 46′ 39.4″ –24° 46′ 39.0″ Flux density (mJy beam 1.0 Ba –24° 46′ 39.5″ –24° 46′ 39.5″ Bb Declination (J2000) 0.5 –1 ) –24° 46′ 40.0″ AaAb –24° 46′ 39.6″ 0 –24° 46′ 40.5″ ′′ ′′ ′′ 170° 31′ 17.8″ 170° 31′ 17.7″ 170° 31′ 17.6″ 170° 31′ 17.5″ 170° 31′ 17.4″ 17.8 17.6 17.4 ′ ′ ′ Right ascension (J2000) 170° 31 170° 31 170° 31 Right ascension (J2000) Fig. 1 | ALMA 1.3 mm continuum image of the HD 98800 dust disk, showing a narrow dust ring 3.5 AU in radius that is 2 AU wide. White semi-transparent lines show the orbits of the inner binary (BaBb) and the path of the outer binary (AaAb) with respect to BaBb, with dots at the star locations at the time of the ALMA observation. The resolution of these ‘uniformly weighted’ images (32 × 25 milliarcsec2, or 1.4 × 1.1 AU2) is given by the ellipse in the lower left corner. Left, entire system. Right, magnification of BaBb. 14 dust and carbon monoxide are at 2.5 ± 0.02 and 1.6 ± 0.3 au, respec- 1 AU tively, while the outer edges are at 4.6 ± 0.01 and 6.4 ± 0.5 au (see 12 Methods). These models show that the disk is largely axisymmetri- cal, although a small asymmetry in the dust distribution at the inner 10 edge may be a sign of interaction with the binary. The dust and carbon monoxide components are consistent with having the same 8 Velocity (km s orientation; the disk has a position angle of 16 ± 1° (measured anti- clockwise from north) and is inclined by either 26 or 154° (±1°) 6 from the sky plane. While the Doppler shifts seen in carbon mon- oxide show that the north side of the disk is rotating towards us 4 –1 (Fig. 2), thus constraining the ascending node to be north of the ) Declination (J2000) star, the inclination remains ambiguous because the disk could be 2 rotating either clockwise or anti-clockwise as projected on the sky. That is, these observations do not distinguish whether the east or 0 west side of the disk is closer to Earth. Of the two possible disk orientations, the 154° case is only 4° away –2 from the polar configuration (that is, it is perpendicular to both the BaBb orbital plane and the BaBb pericentre direction), while the 26° case is inclined 48° from the BaBb binary plane (which we refer to as Right ascension (J2000) the ‘moderately’ misaligned case). The uncertainty on these relative angles is about 4°, so the polar orientation is consistent with being Fig. 2 | Carbon monoxide gas velocity map. Colours show the intensity- perfectly polar. Given the small chance that a randomly chosen ori- weighted carbon monoxide velocity, and contours the dust. The gas velocity entation should appear to be in the polar configuration, which is structure is consistent with that expected if the carbon monoxide disk has the expected based on the dynamics and models discussed above, this same orientation as the dust.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Arxiv:1305.7264V2 [Astro-Ph.EP] 21 Apr 2014 Spain
    Draft version September 18, 2018 Preprint typeset using LATEX style emulateapj v. 08/22/09 THE MOVING GROUP TARGETS OF THE SEEDS HIGH-CONTRAST IMAGING SURVEY OF EXOPLANETS AND DISKS: RESULTS AND OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FIRST THREE YEARS Timothy D. Brandt1, Masayuki Kuzuhara2, Michael W. McElwain3, Joshua E. Schlieder4, John P. Wisniewski5, Edwin L. Turner1,6, J. Carson7,4, T. Matsuo8, B. Biller4, M. Bonnefoy4, C. Dressing9, M. Janson1, G. R. Knapp1, A. Moro-Mart´ın10, C. Thalmann11, T. Kudo12, N. Kusakabe13, J. Hashimoto13,5, L. Abe14, W. Brandner4, T. Currie15, S. Egner12, M. Feldt4, T. Golota12, M. Goto16, C. A. Grady3,17, O. Guyon12, Y. Hayano12, M. Hayashi18, S. Hayashi12, T. Henning4, K. W. Hodapp19, M. Ishii12, M. Iye13, R. Kandori13, J. Kwon13,22, K. Mede18, S. Miyama20, J.-I. Morino13, T. Nishimura12, T.-S. Pyo12, E. Serabyn21, T. Suenaga22, H. Suto13, R. Suzuki13, M. Takami23, Y. Takahashi18, N. Takato12, H. Terada12, D. Tomono12, M. Watanabe24, T. Yamada25, H. Takami12, T. Usuda12, M. Tamura13,18 Draft version September 18, 2018 ABSTRACT We present results from the first three years of observations of moving group targets in the SEEDS high-contrast imaging survey of exoplanets and disks using the Subaru telescope. We achieve typical contrasts of ∼105 at 100 and ∼106 beyond 200 around 63 proposed members of nearby kinematic moving groups. We review each of the kinematic associations to which our targets belong, concluding that five, β Pictoris (∼20 Myr), AB Doradus (∼100 Myr), Columba (∼30 Myr), Tucana-Horogium (∼30 Myr), and TW Hydrae (∼10 Myr), are sufficiently well-defined to constrain the ages of individual targets.
    [Show full text]
  • Inclination Evolution of Protoplanetary Disks Around Eccentric Binaries
    Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 000, 000{000 (0000) Printed 11 October 2017 (MN LATEX style file v2.2) Inclination Evolution of Protoplanetary Disks Around Eccentric Binaries J. J. Zanazzi1?, and Dong Lai1 1Cornell Center for Astrophysics, Planetary Science, Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA 11 October 2017 ABSTRACT It is usually thought that viscous torque works to align a circumbinary disk with the binary's orbital plane. However, recent numerical simulations suggest that the disk may evolve to a configuration perpendicular to the binary orbit (\polar alignment") if the binary is eccentric and the initial disk-binary inclination is sufficiently large. We carry out a theoretical study on the long-term evolution of inclined disks around eccentric binaries, calculating the disk warp profile and dissipative torque acting on the disk. For disks with aspect ratio H=r larger than the viscosity parameter α, bend- ing wave propagation effectively makes the disk precess as a quasi-rigid body, while viscosity acts on the disk warp and twist to drive secular evolution of the disk-binary inclination. We derive a simple analytic criterion (in terms of the binary eccentricity and initial disk orientation) for the disk to evolve toward polar alignment with the eccentric binary. When the disk has a non-negligible angular momentum compared to the binary, the final \polar alignment" inclination angle is reduced from 90◦. For typical protoplanetary disk parameters, the timescale of the inclination evolution is shorter than the disk lifetime, suggesting that highly-inclined disks and planets may exist orbiting eccentric binaries. Key words: Physical data and processes: accretion, accretion discs; Physical data and processes: hydrodynamics; stars: binaries: general; protoplanetary discs.
    [Show full text]
  • Planets Transiting Non-Eclipsing Binaries
    A&A 570, A91 (2014) Astronomy DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201323112 & c ESO 2014 Astrophysics Planets transiting non-eclipsing binaries David V. Martin1 and Amaury H. M. J. Triaud2;? 1 Observatoire Astronomique de l’Université de Genève, Chemin des Maillettes 51, CH-1290 Sauverny, Switzerland e-mail: [email protected] 2 Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA Received 22 November 2013 / Accepted 28 August 2014 ABSTRACT The majority of binary stars do not eclipse. Current searches for transiting circumbinary planets concentrate on eclipsing binaries, and are therefore restricted to a small fraction of potential hosts. We investigate the concept of finding planets transiting non-eclipsing binaries, whose geometry would require mutually inclined planes. Using an N-body code we explore how the number and sequence of transits vary as functions of observing time and orbital parameters. The concept is then generalised thanks to a suite of simulated circumbinary systems. Binaries are constructed from radial-velocity surveys of the solar neighbourhood. They are then populated with orbiting gas giants, drawn from a range of distributions. The binary population is shown to be compatible with the Kepler eclipsing binary catalogue, indicating that the properties of binaries may be as universal as the initial mass function. These synthetic systems produce transiting circumbinary planets occurring on both eclipsing and non-eclipsing binaries. Simulated planets transiting eclipsing binaries are compared with published Kepler detections. We find 1) that planets transiting non-eclipsing binaries are probably present in the Kepler data; 2) that observational biases alone cannot account for the observed over-density of circumbinary planets near the stability limit, which implies a physical pile-up; and 3) that the distributions of gas giants orbiting single and binary stars are likely different.
    [Show full text]
  • EXPLORING TERRESTRIAL PLANET FORMATION in the TW HYDRAE ASSOCIATION Frank J
    The Astrophysical Journal, 631:1170–1179, 2005 October 1 # 2005. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A. EXPLORING TERRESTRIAL PLANET FORMATION IN THE TW HYDRAE ASSOCIATION Frank J. Low and Paul S. Smith Steward Observatory, The University of Arizona, 933 North Cherry Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85721; fl[email protected], [email protected] Michael Werner and Christine Chen1,2 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109; [email protected] Vanessa Krause Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, 770 South Wilson Avenue, MS 103-33, Pasadena, CA 91125; [email protected] Michael Jura Department of Physics and Astronomy, Knudsen Hall, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095; [email protected] and Dean C. Hines Space Science Institute, 3100 Marine Street, Suite A353, Boulder, CO 80303 Received 2005 April 5; accepted 2005 June 9 ABSTRACT Spitzer Space Telescope infrared measurements are presented for 24 members of the TW Hya association (TWA). High signal-to-noise ratio 24 m photometry is presented for all these stars, including 20 stars that were not detected by IRAS. Among these 20 stars, only a single object, TWA 7, shows excess emission at 24 m at the level of only 40% above the star’s photosphere. TWA 7 also exhibits a strong 70 m excess that is a factor of 40 brighter than the stellar photosphere at this wavelength. At 70 m, an excess of similar magnitude is detected for TWA 13, although no 24 m excess was detected for this binary.
    [Show full text]
  • A Review on Substellar Objects Below the Deuterium Burning Mass Limit: Planets, Brown Dwarfs Or What?
    geosciences Review A Review on Substellar Objects below the Deuterium Burning Mass Limit: Planets, Brown Dwarfs or What? José A. Caballero Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), ESAC, Camino Bajo del Castillo s/n, E-28692 Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain; [email protected] Received: 23 August 2018; Accepted: 10 September 2018; Published: 28 September 2018 Abstract: “Free-floating, non-deuterium-burning, substellar objects” are isolated bodies of a few Jupiter masses found in very young open clusters and associations, nearby young moving groups, and in the immediate vicinity of the Sun. They are neither brown dwarfs nor planets. In this paper, their nomenclature, history of discovery, sites of detection, formation mechanisms, and future directions of research are reviewed. Most free-floating, non-deuterium-burning, substellar objects share the same formation mechanism as low-mass stars and brown dwarfs, but there are still a few caveats, such as the value of the opacity mass limit, the minimum mass at which an isolated body can form via turbulent fragmentation from a cloud. The least massive free-floating substellar objects found to date have masses of about 0.004 Msol, but current and future surveys should aim at breaking this record. For that, we may need LSST, Euclid and WFIRST. Keywords: planetary systems; stars: brown dwarfs; stars: low mass; galaxy: solar neighborhood; galaxy: open clusters and associations 1. Introduction I can’t answer why (I’m not a gangstar) But I can tell you how (I’m not a flam star) We were born upside-down (I’m a star’s star) Born the wrong way ’round (I’m not a white star) I’m a blackstar, I’m not a gangstar I’m a blackstar, I’m a blackstar I’m not a pornstar, I’m not a wandering star I’m a blackstar, I’m a blackstar Blackstar, F (2016), David Bowie The tenth star of George van Biesbroeck’s catalogue of high, common, proper motion companions, vB 10, was from the end of the Second World War to the early 1980s, and had an entry on the least massive star known [1–3].
    [Show full text]
  • A Tejútrendszer Szerkezete Tóth L
    A Tejútrendszer szerkezete Tóth L. Viktor XML to PDF by RenderX XEP XSL-FO F ormatter, visit us at http://www.renderx.com/ A Tejútrendszer szerkezete Tóth L. Viktor Szerzői jog © 2013 Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem E könyv kutatási és oktatási célokra szabadon használható. Bármilyen formában való sokszorosítása a jogtulajdonos írásos engedélyéhez kötött. Készült a TÁMOP-4.1.2.A/1-11/1-2011-0073 számú, „E-learning természettudományos tartalomfejlesztés az ELTE TTK-n” című projekt keretében. Konzorciumvezető: Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem, konzorciumi tagok: ELTE TTK Hallgatói Alapítvány, ITStudy Hungary Számítástechnikai Oktató- és Kutatóközpont Kft. XML to PDF by RenderX XEP XSL-FO F ormatter, visit us at http://www.renderx.com/ Tartalom Előszó ........................................................................................................................................ vii A Tejútrendszer korai kutatásának néhány érdekessége ...................................................................... viii Referenciák és további olvasnivaló: .......................................................................................... xi 1. A Tejútrendszer alapvonásai ......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Alapvető paraméterek ....................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Alrendszerek .................................................................................................................... 3 1.2.1.
    [Show full text]
  • Abstracts Booklet Livrets Des Résumés
    Abstracts booklet Livrets des résumés From atoms to pebbles HERSCHEL’s view of Star and Planet Formation Symposium 20 to 23 March, 2012 Grenoble, France www.herschel2012.com ACM 2012-099 - CNES Toulouse ACM 2012-099 - CNES PCMI Programme National de Physique Chimie du Millieu Interstellaire Contents Introduction to the Symposium Oral Presentations ........................................... 2 Topic 1 – Pre-Collapse Phase Oral Presentations ........................................... 3 Topic 2 – Protostellar Phase Oral Presentations ........................................... 10 Topic 3 – Planet-Forming Circumstellar Disks Oral Presentations ........................................... 17 Topic 4 – Debris Disks and Exoplanets Oral Presentations ........................................... 23 Topic 1 – Pre-Collapse Phase Posters ................................................... 28 Topic 2 – Protostellar Phase Posters ................................................... 38 Topic 3 – Planet-Forming Circumstellar Disks Posters ................................................... 55 Topic 4 – Debris Disks and Exoplanets Posters ................................................... 70 1 INTRODUCTION to the Symposium Oral Presentations Herschel Space Observatory - Mission Update and Science Highlights Pilbratt, Goran¨ L. European Space Agency, Research and Science Support Dept, ESTEC/SRE-SA, Noordwijk, The Netherlands The Herschel Space Observatory was successfully launched on14May2009,itcarriesa3.5mpassivelycooledtele- scope, and three focal plane
    [Show full text]
  • The PLATO 2.0 Mission
    Exp Astron (2014) 38:249–330 DOI 10.1007/s10686-014-9383-4 ORIGINAL ARTICLE The PLATO 2.0 mission H. Rauer · C. Catala · C. Aerts · T. Appourchaux · W. Benz · A. Brandeker · J. Christensen-Dalsgaard · M. Deleuil · L. Gizon · M.-J. Goupil · M. G¨udel · E. Janot-Pacheco · M. Mas-Hesse · I. Pagano · G. Piotto · D. Pollacco · N. C. Santos · A. Smith · J.-C. Suarez´ · R. Szabo´ · S. Udry · V. Adibekyan · Y. Alibert · J.-M. Almenara · P. A maro-Seoane · M. Ammler-von Eiff · M. Asplund · E. Antonello · S. Barnes · F. Baudin · K. Belkacem · M. Bergemann · G. Bihain · A. C. Birch · X. Bonfils · I. Boisse · A. S. Bonomo · F. Borsa · I. M. Brandao˜ · E. Brocato · S. Brun · M. Burleigh · R. Burston · J. Cabrera · S. Cassisi · W. Chaplin · S. Charpinet · C. Chiappini · R. P. Church · Sz. Csizmadia · M. Cunha · M. Damasso · M. B. Davies · H. J. Deeg · R. F. D´ıaz · S. Dreizler · C. Dreyer · P. Eggenberger · D. Ehrenreich · P. Eigmuller ¨ · A. Erikson · R. Farmer · S. Feltzing · F. de Oliveira Fialho · P. Figueira · T. Forveille · M. Fridlund · R. A. Garc´ıa · P. Giommi · G. Giuffrida · M. Godolt · J. Gomes da Silva · T. Granzer · J. L. Grenfell · A. Grotsch-Noels · E. G¨unther · C. A. Haswell · A. P. Hatzes · G. Hebrard´ · S. Hekker · R. Helled · K. Heng · J. M. Jenkins · A. Johansen · M. L. Khodachenko · K. G. Kislyakova · W. Kley · U. Kolb · N. Krivova · F. Kupka · H. Lammer · A. F. Lanza · Y. Lebreton · D. Magrin · P. Marcos-Arenal · P. M. Marrese · J. P. Marques · J. Martins · S. Mathis · S. Mathur · S. Messina · A.
    [Show full text]
  • Orders of Magnitude (Length) - Wikipedia
    03/08/2018 Orders of magnitude (length) - Wikipedia Orders of magnitude (length) The following are examples of orders of magnitude for different lengths. Contents Overview Detailed list Subatomic Atomic to cellular Cellular to human scale Human to astronomical scale Astronomical less than 10 yoctometres 10 yoctometres 100 yoctometres 1 zeptometre 10 zeptometres 100 zeptometres 1 attometre 10 attometres 100 attometres 1 femtometre 10 femtometres 100 femtometres 1 picometre 10 picometres 100 picometres 1 nanometre 10 nanometres 100 nanometres 1 micrometre 10 micrometres 100 micrometres 1 millimetre 1 centimetre 1 decimetre Conversions Wavelengths Human-defined scales and structures Nature Astronomical 1 metre Conversions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orders_of_magnitude_(length) 1/44 03/08/2018 Orders of magnitude (length) - Wikipedia Human-defined scales and structures Sports Nature Astronomical 1 decametre Conversions Human-defined scales and structures Sports Nature Astronomical 1 hectometre Conversions Human-defined scales and structures Sports Nature Astronomical 1 kilometre Conversions Human-defined scales and structures Geographical Astronomical 10 kilometres Conversions Sports Human-defined scales and structures Geographical Astronomical 100 kilometres Conversions Human-defined scales and structures Geographical Astronomical 1 megametre Conversions Human-defined scales and structures Sports Geographical Astronomical 10 megametres Conversions Human-defined scales and structures Geographical Astronomical 100 megametres 1 gigametre
    [Show full text]
  • Extrasolar Kuiper Belt Dust Disks 465
    Moro-Martín et al.: Extrasolar Kuiper Belt Dust Disks 465 Extrasolar Kuiper Belt Dust Disks Amaya Moro-Martín Princeton University Mark C. Wyatt University of Cambridge Renu Malhotra and David E. Trilling University of Arizona The dust disks observed around mature stars are evidence that plantesimals are present in these systems on spatial scales that are similar to that of the asteroids and the Kuiper belt ob- jects (KBOs) in the solar system. These dust disks (a.k.a. “debris disks”) present a wide range of sizes, morphologies, and properties. It is inferred that their dust mass declines with time as the dust-producing planetesimals get depleted, and that this decline can be punctuated by large spikes that are produced as a result of individual collisional events. The lack of solid-state fea- tures indicate that, generally, the dust in these disks have sizes >10 µm, but exceptionally, strong silicate features in some disks suggest the presence of large quantities of small grains, thought to be the result of recent collisions. Spatially resolved observations of debris disks show a di- versity of structural features, such as inner cavities, warps, offsets, brightness asymmetries, spirals, rings, and clumps. There is growing evidence that, in some cases, these structures are the result of the dynamical perturbations of a massive planet. Our solar system also harbors a debris disk and some of its properties resemble those of extrasolar debris disks. From the cratering record, we can infer that its dust mass has decayed with time, and that there was at least one major “spike” in the past during the late heavy bombardment.
    [Show full text]
  • October 2019 Newsletter for the Wiltshire, Swindon, Beckington Committee Changes Astronomical Societies
    Volume25, Issue 2 NWASNEWS October 2019 Newsletter for the Wiltshire, Swindon, Beckington Committee Changes Astronomical Societies A couple of changes to the committee The other position to be filled at the Wiltshire Society Page 2 positions from the AGM to report. To- AGM was the position of chairman. I ny Vale has stepped back from the have stepped back into the post for a Swindon Stargazers 3 year while some members think Beckington AS 4 observing coordinator alongside Jona- than Gale and Chris Brooks has volun- about options running forward but NASA Space Place 5 teered to step in, and is working on the thank you for year in office Keith. How to power a space probe viewing night list for the year, although The good news is that I have had 2 Space News 6-15 a family bereavement means he will members ask to be considered for 3.5 Billion yo fossil confirmed be supplying a more complete list in next year. Purple Twilight causes the next few days. He will also post On the Wiltshire Society page is a for Mush Starship Announcements these on the Facebook members page Fertile Mice from ISS sale item, an NEQ6 skywatcher Triple Massive Black hole System and the website via Sam. mount and battery. This is barely Summer Asteroid Near Miss Peter has completed the speaker list used, but Philip Proven is stepping Io’s 500 day Cycle at Loki Volca- for the year, see page 2, February is away from viewing and has this for noe Metalic Asteroid May have had waiting confirmation.
    [Show full text]
  • Mass Inventory of the Giant-Planet Formation Zone in a So- Lar Nebula Analog
    Mass inventory of the giant-planet formation zone in a so- lar nebula analog Ke Zhang1, Edwin A. Bergin1, Geoffrey A. Blake2, L. Ilsedore Cleeves3, Kamber R. Schwarz1 1Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, 1085 S University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA 2Division of Geological & Planetary Sciences, MC 150-21, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125, USA 3Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA The initial mass distribution in the solar nebula is a critical input to planet formation models that seek to reproduce today’s Solar System1. Traditionally, constraints on the gas mass dis- tribution are derived from observations of the dust emission from disks2, 3, but this approach suffers from large uncertainties in grain growth and gas-to-dust ratio2. On the other hand, previous observations of gas tracers only probe surface layers above the bulk mass reservoir4. Here we present the first partially spatially resolved observations of the 13C18O J=3-2 line emission in the closest protoplanetary disk, TW Hya, a gas tracer that probes the bulk mass distribution. Combining it with the C18O J=3-2 emission and the previously detected HD J=1-0 flux, we directly constrain the mid-plane temperature and optical depths of gas and +0:4 +8 −0:9−0:3 −2 dust emission. We report a gas mass distribution of 13−5×(R/20.5AU) g cm in the expected formation zone of gas and ice giants (5-21 AU). We find the total gas/millimeter- sized dust mass ratio is 140 in this region, suggesting that at least 2.4 M⊕ of dust aggregates have grown to >centimeter sizes (and perhaps much larger).
    [Show full text]