What causes warm dust interior to planetesimal belts?
- Author(s)
- Yinuo Han, Mark Wyatt, John Carpenter, Thomas K. Henning, A. Meredith Hughes, Grant Kennedy, Ágnes Kóspál, Meredith MacGregor, Sebastian Marino, Jonathan P. Marshall, Brenda Matthews, Nicole Pawellek, Antranik Sefilian, David J. Wilner, Carlos del Burgo
- Abstract
One of the most notable findings of JWST in exoplanetary systems so far has been the discovery of a continuous distribution of warm dust permeating the space interior to the planetesimal belt in Fomalhaut. An intermediate dust ring was also discovered within this dust distribution that pointed to the presence of perturbing planets, highlighting the unique capability of JWST to probe this intermediate region of planetary systems. Such a discovery has prompted a re-evaluation of our understanding of debris disk structures more generally, while opening up a new method to search for planets by looking at planetary perturbations within continuous inner warm dust distributions. In this proposal, we aim to test whether there exists a common mechanism for causing this inner warm dust, which may be ubiquitous in debris disks. We target the Gamma Oph system, which is the best target to image with MIRI to probe this inner dust distribution alongside Fomalhaut and Vega which have been observed as part of GTO programs. We will be able to test whether these systems host inner warm dust commonly explained by Poynting-Robertson drag, as has been modelled in Fomalhaut, or whether a more diverse range of mechanisms are at play, such as comet delivery or a two-belt configuration analogous to the Solar System. In all possible scenarios, we will be able to constrain the planetary architecture in Gamma Oph to compare with Fomalhaut and Vega, leading to a more complete understanding of debris disk structures in this new region enabled by JWST and the architecture of otherwise invisible planets.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Astrophysics
- External organisation(s)
- University of Cambridge, Associated Universities, Inc, Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Wesleyan University, University of Warwick, HUN-REN Hungarian Research Network, Johns Hopkins University, University of Exeter, Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA), No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Road, National Research Council Canada (NRC-CNRC), Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands
- Publication date
- 02-2024
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 103003 Astronomy, 103004 Astrophysics
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/4640aa49-c491-41fc-9962-ab1d915ce5a4