Abstract
New submillimeter images of the cold dust emission around the nearby main-sequence star Fomalhaut are presented. Observations at a wavelength of 450 mum, where the telescope beam size is equivalent to a resolution of 50 AU, reveal that Fomalhaut is encircled by a significantly nonaxisymmetric inclined ring. Smooth axisymmetric models of the ring images suggest the existence of a least one "clump" with an estimated flux of about 5% of the total from the disk, thus implying a clump mass of 0.075 lunar masses. At the resolution of the data, this clump could instead be a ring arc. The most plausible explanation is that this feature is produced by dust trapped in a resonance with a large planet. The observed structures around Fomalhaut and other Vega-excess stars qualitatively resemble features seen in numerical simulations with a gas giant perturber.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Pages (from-to) | 1141-1146 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Astrophysical Journal |
Volume | 582 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 10 Jan 2003 |
Keywords
- circumstellar matter
- planetary systems
- stars : individual (Fomalhaut)
- CLERK-MAXWELL-TELESCOPE
- CIRCUMSTELLAR DISK
- PLANETS
- STARS
- VEGA
- SIGNATURES
- DEBRIS
- SCUBA
- RING