2005/07/14 by Glenn Schneider, Murray D. Silverstone, Dean C. Hines · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Brightness #Flux (metallurgy) #RADIUS #Starlight #Stars #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Surface brightness #Thick disk #Thin disk #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/452631
published as Astrophys.J.629:L117-L120,2005 · 12 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in ApJL
arxiv created 2005/07/14 · openalex publication_date 2005/08/11 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We report the discovery of a nearly edge-on disk about the A0 star HD 32297 seen in light scattered by the disk grains revealed in NICMOS PSF-subtracted coronagraphic images. The disk extends to a distance of at least 400 AU (3 3) along its major axis with a 1.1 μm flux density of 4.81 ± 0.57 mJy beyond a radius of 0 3 from the coronagraphically occulted star. The fraction of 1.1 μm starlight scattered by the disk, 0.0033 ± 0.0004, is comparable to its fractional excess emission at 25 + 60 μm of ~0.0027 as measured from IRAS data. The disk appears to be inclined 10 5 ± 2 5 from an edge-on viewing geometry, with its major axis oriented 236 5 ± 1° eastward of north. The disk exhibits unequal brightness on opposing sides and a break in the surface brightness profile along the NE-side disk major axis. Such asymmetries might implicate the existence of one or more (unseen) planetary mass companions.