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Locating the Dust in A Star Debris Discs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 January 2014

Mark Booth
Affiliation:
Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, University of Victoria, Elliott Building, 3800 Finnerty Rd, Victoria, BC, V8P 5C2Canada; email: markbooth@cantab.net NRC of Canada, 5071 West Saanich Road, Victoria, BC, V9E 2E7Canada
Grant Kennedy
Affiliation:
Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Rd, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
Bruce Sibthorpe
Affiliation:
UK ATC, Royal Observatory, Blackford Hill, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK
Brenda C. Matthews
Affiliation:
Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, University of Victoria, Elliott Building, 3800 Finnerty Rd, Victoria, BC, V8P 5C2Canada; email: markbooth@cantab.net NRC of Canada, 5071 West Saanich Road, Victoria, BC, V9E 2E7Canada
Mark C. Wyatt
Affiliation:
Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Rd, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
Gaspard Duchêne
Affiliation:
Astronomy Department, UCB, Hearst Field Annex B-20, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411, USA UJF-Grenoble 1 / CNRS-INSU, IPAG UMR 5274, Grenoble, F-38041, France
J. J. Kavelaars
Affiliation:
Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, University of Victoria, Elliott Building, 3800 Finnerty Rd, Victoria, BC, V8P 5C2Canada; email: markbooth@cantab.net NRC of Canada, 5071 West Saanich Road, Victoria, BC, V9E 2E7Canada
David Rodriguez
Affiliation:
Universidad de Chile, Camino el Observatorio 1515, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile
Jane S. Greaves
Affiliation:
School of Physics & Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9SS, UK
Alice Koning
Affiliation:
Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, University of Victoria, Elliott Building, 3800 Finnerty Rd, Victoria, BC, V8P 5C2Canada; email: markbooth@cantab.net NRC of Canada, 5071 West Saanich Road, Victoria, BC, V9E 2E7Canada
Laura Vican
Affiliation:
Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, UCLA, 475 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1547, USA
George H. Rieke
Affiliation:
Steward Observatory, University of Arizona933 N Cherry Avenue Tucson, AZ 85721
Kate Y. L. Su
Affiliation:
Steward Observatory, University of Arizona933 N Cherry Avenue Tucson, AZ 85721
Amaya Moro-Martín
Affiliation:
Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), 28850 Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain
Paul Kalas
Affiliation:
Astronomy Department, UCB, Hearst Field Annex B-20, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411, USA SETI Institute, 515 North Whisman Rd., Mountain View, CA 94043, USA
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Abstract

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Using photometry at just two wavelengths it is possible to fit a blackbody to the spectrum of infrared excess that is the signature of a debris disc. From this the location of the dust can be inferred. However, it is well known that dust in debris discs is not a perfect blackbody. By resolving debris discs we can find the actual location of the dust and compare this to that inferred from the blackbody fit. Using the Herschel Space Observatory we resolved many systems as part of the DEBRIS survey. Here we discuss a sample of 9 discs surrounding A stars and find that the discs are actually located between 1 and 2.5 times further from their star than predicted by blackbody fits to the spectral energy distribution (SED). The variation in this ratio is due to differences in stellar luminosities, location of the dust, size distribution and composition of the dust.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2013 

References

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