We present the first near-IR milli-arcsecond-scale image of a post-AGB binary that is surrounded by hot circumbinary dust. A very rich interferometric data set in six spectral channels was acquired of IRAS08544-4431 with the new RAPID camera on the PIONIER beam combiner at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). A broadband image in the \textit{H} band was reconstructed by combining the data of all spectral channels using the SPARCO method. We spatially separate all the building blocks of the IRAS08544-4431 system in our milliarcsecond-resolution image. Our dissection reveals a dust sublimation front that is strikingly similar to that expected in early-stage protoplanetary disks, as well as an unexpected flux signal of ∼4\% from the secondary star. The energy output from this companion indicates the presence of a compact circum-companion accretion disk, which is likely the origin of the fast outflow detected in Hα. Our image provides the most detailed view into the heart of a dusty circumstellar disk to date. Our results demonstrate that binary evolution processes and circumstellar disk evolution can be studied in detail in space and over time.
@article{arxiv.1603.03023,
title = {Imaging the dust sublimation front of a circumbinary disk},
author = {M. Hillen and J. Kluska and J. -B. Le Bouquin and H. Van Winckel and J. -P. Berger and D. Kamath and V. Bujarrabal},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1603.03023},
year = {2016}
}