Young Planets Bite the Dust

noirlab2014a/noirlab2014b (Labeled) – GPI Circumstellar Disks

Six circumstellar disks selected from the larger sample of 26 disks obtained with the Gemini South telescope in Chile using the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI). These images highlight the diversity of shapes and sizes that these disks can take and show the outer reaches of star systems in their formative years. Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T. Esposito (UC Berkeley). Image processing: Travis Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), Mahdi Zamani & Davide de Martin. 3906 × 2642 jpg  -  3906 × 2642 jpg  (Labeled)

noirlab2014c – HD 129590

A circumstellar disk around star HD 129590 selected from the larger sample of 26 disks obtained with the Gemini South telescope in Chile using the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI).  Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T. Esposito (UC Berkeley).  Image processing: Travis Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), Mahdi Zamani & Davide de Martin. 1200 × 1200 jpg

noirlab2014d – HD 117214

A circumstellar disk around star HD 117214 selected from the larger sample of 26 disks obtained with the Gemini South telescope in Chile using the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI). Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T. Esposito (UC Berkeley) Image processing: Travis Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), Mahdi Zamani & Davide de Martin. noirlab2014e – HD 111520 A circumstellar disk around star HD 111520 selected from the larger sample of 26 disks obtained with the Gemini South telescope in Chile using the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI). Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T. Esposito (UC Berkeley) Image processing: Travis Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), Mahdi Zamani & Davide de Martin. 1200 × 1200 jpg

noirlab2014e – HD 111520

A circumstellar disk around star HD 111520 selected from the larger sample of 26 disks obtained with the Gemini South telescope in Chile using the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI). Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T. Esposito (UC Berkeley) Image processing: Travis Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), Mahdi Zamani & Davide de Martin.  1200 × 1200 jpg

noirlab2014f – HR 4796 A

A circumstellar disk around star HR 4796 A selected from the larger sample of 26 disks obtained with the Gemini South telescope in Chile using the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI). Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T. Esposito (UC Berkeley) Image processing: Travis Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), Mahdi Zamani & Davide de Martin.  1200 × 1200 jpg

noirlab2014g – TWA 7

A circumstellar disk around star TWA 7 selected from the larger sample of 26 disks obtained with the Gemini South telescope in Chile using the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI). Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T. Esposito (UC Berkeley) Image processing: Travis Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), Mahdi Zamani & Davide de Martin.  1200 × 1200 jpg

noirlab2014h – HD 32297

A circumstellar disk around star HD 32297 selected from the larger sample of 26 disks obtained with the Gemini South telescope in Chile using the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI). Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T. Esposito (UC Berkeley) Image processing: Travis Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), Mahdi Zamani & Davide de Martin.  1200 × 1200 jpg

noirlab2014a – Images of Dusty Star Systems Revealed by the Gemini Planet Imager Animation of the Solar System and moving outward to indicate stars observed with the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) mounted on the Gemini South telescope in Chile. Highlighted are the images of the dusty rings encircling some of these young stars. More than 100 researchers have contributed to GPI and the GPI Exoplanet Survey, whose work is highlighted in this video. The work was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and NASA. Created by Jenny Patience and Ric Alling, Arizona State University, with scientific input from Justin Hom (ASU), Paul Kalas (UC Berkeley), Tom Esposito (UC Berkeley) and Franck Marchis (SETI Institute). Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. Patience & R. Alling (Arizona State University)/T. Esposito (UC Berkeley) noirlab2014a mp4

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Astronomers unveil new collection of planet-forming dusty star systems

These orange swirls of dust are snapshots from the largest collection of sharp, detailed images of dusty debris disks around young stars — published this week by an international group of astronomers. The images — captured by the 8-meter Gemini South telescope using the Gemini Planet Imager — illustrate the variety of shapes and sizes that stellar systems can take during their infancy. Unexpectedly, the majority of these systems display evidence of planet formation.

These remarkable portraits of dusty disks are a selection from 26 new images of debris disks obtained by the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) at the international Gemini Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. These images highlight the diversity of shapes and sizes that these disks can take and show the outer reaches of exoplanetary systems in their formative years. The young stars imaged, which range from tens of millions to a few hundred million years old, are at the ideal age to settle down and raise planets. The forming planets sculpt the dust disk and leave behind gaps and warps that are indirect clues to their existence and motion.

While debris disks have been imaged before, this new cohort of 26 disks represents one of the largest samples to be imaged with highly uniform data quality. This enables detailed comparison of the observations, a unique breakthrough in debris disk surveys. Thirteen of the disks form a perfect natural laboratory, all belonging to the Scorpius–Centaurus stellar association, roughly 400 light-years from Earth. The group of stars, which were born in the same region at roughly the same time, enables astronomers to compare the architectures of a variety of young planetary systems developing under different conditions.

GPI was able to capture these dusty disks with the help of some ingenious astronomical engineering.

GPI is sensitive to the polarization of light, allowing it to distinguish dust-scattered light, which is polarized, from the unpolarized light emanating from the stars. This gives GPI the impressive ability to improve the contrast of images and capture disks that are 10 million times fainter than their parent stars.

Measuring polarization is only one of GPI’s tricks, however — the instrument also exploits a coronagraph and adaptive optics to get the most from its observations [1][2].

GPI’s precision is in large part due to its perch on the 8-meter Gemini South telescope on Cerro Pachón in Chile. The dry conditions, high altitude, and dark skies are perfect for cutting-edge astronomical research. By combining this exquisite location with some engineering ingenuity, GPI is able to capture images as sharp as those from the Hubble Space Telescope — and detect objects up to three times closer to the host stars [3].

GPI’s first-rate observing abilities enabled this work, part of the Gemini Planet Imager Exoplanet Survey (GPIES), a 4-year search for light emitted by giant gas planets orbiting more than 500 of the youngest stars near the Sun. As well as doubling the number of debris disks imaged at this high resolution, the survey uncovered six giant exoplanets and four brown dwarfs. Surveys such as GPIES are a perfect way to screen targets for the next generation of space- and ground-based telescopes.

“The Gemini instrument program continues to provide unique science opportunities. This combination of GPI mounted upon a large ground-based telescope is delivering exciting new details about the process of how planets form,” said Martin Still, NSF Program Manager for the Gemini Observatory partnership.

The GPIES survey concluded in 2019, but the investment and technical capability of the Gemini Planet Imager will continue with an upgrade to GPI’s hardware to improve its resolution and sensitivity [4].

The new “GPI 2.0,” is slated for a future installation at Gemini North atop Maunakea in Hawai‘i, where it will search the less-observed northern hemisphere skies for more exoplanets and debris disks. GPI 2.0 will also continue the work of scouting out targets for the next generation of exoplanet missions, setting the scene for new insights into the mystery of planet formation.

Source:  NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab)

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Notes

[1] Coronagraphs are devices which block light coming directly from a central star, allowing the faint disk to be seen. The presence of GPI’s coronagraph can be inferred from the conspicuous black circle at the center of these images.

[2] Adaptive Optics is a cutting-edge astronomical technique that uses deformable mirrors to correct blurring and distortions caused by turbulence in Earth’s atmosphere.

[3] GPI’s coronagraph blocks a smaller region around the star and better suppresses noise at small angular separations from the star, compared to HST’s coronagraph.

[4] The upgrade to GPI is funded by the NSF and by the Heising-Simons Foundation.

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More information

This research was presented in the paper Debris Disk Results from the Gemini Planet Imager Exoplanet Survey’s Polarimetric Imaging Campaign in The Astronomical Journal.

The team is composed of Thomas M. Esposito (University of California, Berkeley), Paul Kalas, (University of California, Berkeley, SETI Institute, and Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas), Michael P. Fitzgerald (University of California, Los Angeles), Maxwell A. Millar-Blanchaer (NASA Hubble Fellow at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Gaspard Duchêne (University of California,Berkeley and Université Grenoble Alpes), Jennifer Patience (Arizona State University), Justin Hom (Arizona State University), Marshall D. Perrin (Space Telescope Science Institute), Robert J. De Rosa (Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology), Eugene Chiang (University of California, Berkeley), Ian Czekala (NASA Hubble Fellowship Program Sagan Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley), Bruce Macintosh (Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology), James R. Graham (University of California, Berkeley), Megan Ansdell (University of California, Berkeley), Pauline Arriaga (University of California, Los Angeles), Sebastian Bruzzone (The University of Western Ontario), Joanna Bulger (Pan-STARRS Observatory), Christine H. Chen (Space Telescope Science Institute), Tara Cotton (University of Georgia), Ruobing Dong (University of Victoria), Zachary H. Draper (University of Victoria and National Research Council of Canada), Katherine B. Follette (Amherst College), Li-Wei Hung (University of California, Los Angeles), Ronald Lopez (University of California, Los Angeles), Brenda C. Matthews (National Research Council of Canada and University of Victoria), Johan Mazoyer (NASA Hubble Fellow at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Stan Metchev (The University of Western Ontario and Stony Brook University), Julien Rameau (Université de Montréal), Bin Ren (Johns Hopkins University and Space Telescope Science Institute), Malena Rice (Yale University), Inseok Song (University of Georgia), Kevin Stahl (University of California, Los Angeles), Jason Wang (California Institute of Technology and University of California, Berkeley), Schuyler Wolff (Leiden University), Ben Zuckerman (University of California, Los Angeles), S. Mark Ammons (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory), Vanessa P. Bailey (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Travis Barman (University of Arizona), Jeffrey Chilcote (Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology and University of Notre Dame), Rene Doyon (Université de Montréal), Benjamin L. Gerard (University of Victoria and National Research Council of Canada), Stephen J. Goodsell (Gemini Observatory), Alexandra Z. Greenbaum (University of Michigan), Pascale Hibon (Gemini Observatory), Sasha Hinkley (University of Exeter), Patrick Ingraham (Vera C. Rubin Observatory), Quinn Konopacky (University of California San Diego), Jérôme Maire (University of California San Diego), Franck Marchis (SETI Institute), Mark S. Marley (NASA Ames Research Center), Christian Marois (University of Victoria and National Research Council of Canada), Eric L. Nielsen (SETI Institute and Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology), Rebecca Oppenheimer (American Museum of Natural History), David Palmer (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory), Lisa Poyneer (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory), Laurent Pueyo (Space Telescope Science Institute), Abhijith Rajan (Space Telescope Science Institute), Fredrik T. Rantakyrö (Gemini Observatory), Jean-Baptiste Ruffio (Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology), Dmitry Savransky (Cornell University), Adam C. Schneider (Arizona State University), Anand Sivaramakrishnan (Space Telescope Science Institute), Rémi Soummer (Space Telescope Science Institute), Sandrine Thomas (Vera C. Rubin Observatory), and Kimberly Ward-Duong (Amherst College).

NSF’s National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab), the US center for ground-based optical-infrared astronomy, operates the international Gemini Observatory (a facility of NSF, NRC–Canada, ANID–Chile, MCTIC–Brazil, MINCyT–Argentina, and KASI–Republic of Korea), Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), the Community Science and Data Center (CSDC), and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. It is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with NSF and is headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. The astronomical community is honored to have the opportunity to conduct astronomical research on Iolkam Du’ag (Kitt Peak) in Arizona, on Maunakea in Hawaiʻi, and on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón in Chile. We recognize and acknowledge the very significant cultural role and reverence that these sites have to the Tohono O’odham Nation, to the Native Hawaiian community, and to the local communities in Chile, respectively.

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Links

• University of California, Berkeley release
• Video by Arizona State University
• Research paper
• Photos of the Gemini telescope
• The Gemini Planet Imager Web Page

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Contacts

Peter Michaud
NewsTeam Manager
NSF’s NOIRLab
Gemini Observatory, Hilo HI
Cell: +1 808-936-6643
Email: pmichaud@gemini.edu

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Hubble Surveys Debris-Strewn Exoplanetary Construction Yards

HD 15115, HD 32297, HD 61005, HD 181327, MP Mus

Credit: NASA, ESA, G. Schneider (University of Arizona), and the HST/GO 12228 Team

 Hubble GO/12228 Program Debris Disk Sample

Credit: NASA, ESA, G. Schneider (University of Arizona), and the HST/GO 12228 Team

Release Images

Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have completed the largest and most sensitive visible-light imaging survey of dusty debris disks around other stars. These dusty disks, likely created by collisions between leftover objects from planet formation, were imaged around stars as young as 10 million years old and as mature as more than 1 billion years old.

"It's like looking back in time to see the kinds of destructive events that once routinely happened in our solar system after the planets formed," said survey leader Glenn Schneider of the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory. The survey's results appeared in the Oct. 1, 2014, issue of The Astronomical Journal.

Once thought to be simply pancake-like structures, the unexpected diversity and complexity of these dusty debris structures strongly suggest they are being gravitationally affected by unseen planets orbiting the star. Alternatively, these effects could result from the stars' passing through interstellar space.

The researchers discovered that no two "disks" of material surrounding stars look the same. "We find that the systems are not simply flat with uniform surfaces," Schneider said. "These are actually pretty complicated three-dimensional debris systems, often with embedded smaller structures. Some of the substructures could be signposts of unseen planets." The astronomers used Hubble's Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph to study 10 previously discovered circumstellar debris systems, plus MP Mus, a mature protoplanetary disk of age comparable to the youngest of the debris disks.

Irregularities observed in one ring-like system in particular, around a star called HD 181327, resemble the ejection of a huge spray of debris into the outer part of the system from the recent collision of two bodies.

"This spray of material is fairly distant from its host star — roughly twice the distance that Pluto is from the Sun," said co-investigator Christopher Stark of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. "Catastrophically destroying an object that massive at such a large distance is difficult to explain, and it should be very rare. If we are in fact seeing the recent aftermath of a massive collision, the unseen planetary system may be quite chaotic."

Another interpretation for the irregularities is that the disk has been mysteriously warped by the star's passage through interstellar space, directly interacting with unseen interstellar material. "Either way, the answer is exciting," Schneider said. "Our team is currently analyzing follow-up observations that will help reveal the true cause of the irregularity."

Over the past few years astronomers have found an incredible diversity in the architecture of exoplanetary systems — planets are arranged in orbits that are markedly different than found in our solar system. "We are now seeing a similar diversity in the architecture of accompanying debris systems," Schneider said. "How are the planets affecting the disks, and how are the disks affecting the planets? There is some sort of interdependence between a planet and the accompanying debris that might affect the evolution of these exoplanetary debris systems."

From this small sample, the most important message to take away is one of diversity, Schneider said. He added that astronomers really need to understand the internal and external influences on these systems, such as stellar winds and interactions with clouds of interstellar material, and how they are influenced by the mass and age of the parent star, and the abundance of heavier elements needed to build planets.

Though astronomers have found nearly 4,000 exoplanet candidates since 1995, mostly by indirect detection methods, only about two dozen light-scattering, circumstellar debris systems have been imaged over that same time period. That's because the disks are typically 100,000 times fainter than, and often very close to, their bright parent stars. The majority have been seen because of Hubble's ability to perform high-contrast imaging, in which the overwhelming light from the star is blocked to reveal the faint disk that surrounds the star.

The new imaging survey also yields insight into how our solar system formed and evolved 4.6 billion years ago. In particular, the suspected planet collision seen in the disk around HD 181327 may be similar to how the Earth-Moon system formed, as well as the Pluto-Charon system over 4 billion years ago. In those cases, collisions between planet-sized bodies cast debris that then coalesced into a companion moon.

CONTACT:

Ray Villard
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
410-338-4514
villard@stsci.edu

Glenn Schneider
University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz.
520-621-5865
gschneider@as.arizona.edu

Source: HubbleSite