The {\beta} Pictoris disk imaged by Herschel PACS and SPIRE
Abstract
We obtained Herschel PACS and SPIRE images of the thermal emission of the debris disk around the A5V star {\beta} Pic. The disk is well resolved in the PACS filters at 70, 100, and 160 {\mu}m. The surface brightness profiles between 70 and 160 {\mu}m show no significant asymmetries along the disk, and are compatible with 90% of the emission between 70 and 160 {\mu}m originating in a region closer than 200 AU to the star. Although only marginally resolving the debris disk, the maps obtained in the SPIRE 250 - 500 {\mu}m filters provide full-disk photometry, completing the SED over a few octaves in wavelength that had been previously inaccessible. The small far-infrared spectral index ({\beta} = 0.34) indicates that the grain size distribution in the inner disk (<200AU) is inconsistent with a local collisional equilibrium. The size distribution is either modified by non-equilibrium effects, or exhibits a wavy pattern, caused by an under-abundance of impactors which have been removed by radiation pressure.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1005.3915,
title = {The {\beta} Pictoris disk imaged by Herschel PACS and SPIRE},
author = {B. Vandenbussche and B. Sibthorpe and B. Acke and E. Pantin and G. Olofsson and C. Waelkens and C. Dominik and M. J. Barlow and J. A. D. L. Blommaert and J. Bouwman and A. Brandeker and M. Cohen and W. DeMeester and W. R. F. Dent and K. Exter and J. Di Francesco and M. Fridlund and W. K. Gear and A. M. Glauser and H. L. Gomez and J. S. Greaves and P. C. Hargrave and P. M. Harvey and Th. Henning and A. M. Heras and M. R. Hogerheijde and W. S. Holland and R. Huygen and R. J. Ivison and C. Jean and S. J. Leeks and T. L. Lim and R. Liseau and B. C. Matthews and D. A. Naylor and G. L. Pilbratt and E. T. Polehampton and S. Regibo and P. Royer and A. Sicilia-Aguilar and B. M. Swinyard and H. J. Walker and R. Wesson},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1005.3915},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
Accepted for publication in Astronomy&Astrophysics, Herschel First Results special issue