2012/07/18 by R. Nilsson, A. Brandeker, G. Olofsson +3 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Circumstellar disk #Debris #Debris disk #Planetary system #Protoplanetary disk #Rotation (mathematics) #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #Thick disk #astro-ph.EP #myr
paper · pdf · doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201219288
12 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics
arxiv created 2012/07/18 · openalex publication_date 2012/07/19 · arxiv updated 2015/06/05 · openalex created_date 2019/06/27 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Context. Circumstellar debris disks older than a few Myr should be largely devoid of primordial gas remaining from the protoplanetary disk phase. Tracing the origin of observed atomic gas in Keplerian rotation in the edge-on debris disk surrounding the ~12 Myr old star β Pictoris requires more detailed information about its spatial distribution than has previously been acquired by limited slit spectroscopy. Especially indications of asymmetries and presence of Ca ii gas at high disk latitudes call for additional investigation to exclude or confirm its connection to observed dust structures or suggested cometary bodies on inclined eccentric orbits.