Possible spectral lines from the gaseous Beta Pictoris disk

1999/08/24 by A. Lecavelier des Etangs, L. M. Hobbs, Etangs, A. Lecavelier des +15
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #astro-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/9908266

Research Note, submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysics, 4 figures, 4 pages

arxiv created 1999/08/24 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01

Abstract

We present the results of exploratory HST observations to detect the emission lines of ions in the Beta Pic disk with the spectrograph slit placed off the star. Possible emission lines from FeII have been detected at ∼ 10^-14erg cm-2 s-1 at 0.5 arcsec from Beta Pic, which would suggest a total FeII density of > 2.10^-2 cm-3 at 10 AU. This detection needs confirmation. If real, it requires a large production rate of gas and dust equivalent to the total disruption of ten bodies 30 kilometers in radius per year.

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