We report on the discovery of a mid-infrared source at a projected distance of only 1200 AU from the O9.5 V star sigma Orionis. The spatially resolved, fan-shaped morphology and the presence of an ionization front, as well as evidence in the spectrum for processed dust grains, all suggest that it is a proto-planetary disk being dispersed by the intense ultraviolet radiation from sigma Orionis. We compute the mass budget and the photo-evaporation timescale, and discuss the possible nature of this remarkable object.
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0305502,
title = {Discovery of a dust cloud next to sigma Orionis},
author = {Jacco Th. van Loon and Joana M. Oliveira},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0305502},
year = {2011}
}
Comments
Accepted for publication in A&A Letters: 4 pages, 3 figures