Kavli Affiliate: Sara Seager
| First 5 Authors: Isabel Rebollido, Christopher C. Stark, Jens Kammerer, Marshall D. Perrin, Kellen Lawson
| Summary:
We present the first JWST MIRI and NIRCam observations of the prominent
debris disk around Beta Pictoris. Coronagraphic observations in 8 filters
spanning from 1.8 to 23~$mu$m provide an unprecedentedly clear view of the
disk at these wavelengths. The objectives of the observing program were to
investigate the dust composition and distribution, and to investigate the
presence of planets in the system. In this paper, we focus on the disk
components, providing surface brightness measurements for all images and a
detailed investigation of the asymmetries observed. A companion paper by
Kammerer et al. will focus on the planets in this system using the same data.
We report for the first time the presence of an extended secondary disk in
thermal emission, with a curved extension bent away from the plane of the disk.
This feature, which we refer to as the “cat’s tail", seems to be connected
with the previously reported CO clump, mid-infrared asymmetry detected in the
southwest side, and the warp observed in scattered light. We present a model of
this secondary disk sporadically producing dust that broadly reproduces the
morphology, flux, and color of the cat’s tail, as well as other features
observed in the disk, and suggests the secondary disk is composed largely of
porous, organic refractory dust grains.
| Search Query: ArXiv Query: search_query=au:”Sara Seager”&id_list=&start=0&max_results=3