Kavli Affiliate: Bruce Macintosh
| First 5 Authors: Katie A. Crotts, Brenda C. Matthews, Gaspard Duchêne, Thomas M. Esposito, Ruobing Dong
| Summary:
The Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) has excelled in imaging debris disks in the
near-infrared. The GPI Exoplanet Survey (GPIES) imaged twenty-four debris disks
in polarized $H$-band light, while other programs observed half of these disks
in polarized $J$- and/or $K1$-bands. Using these data, we present a uniform
analysis of the morphology of each disk to find asymmetries suggestive of
perturbations, particularly those due to planet-disk interactions. The
multi-wavelength surface brightness, the disk color and geometry permit
identification of any asymmetries such as warps or disk offsets from the
central star. We find that nineteen of the disks in this sample exhibit
asymmetries in surface brightness, disk color, disk geometry, or a combination
of the three, suggesting that for this sample, perturbations, as seen in
scattered light, are common. The relationship between these perturbations and
potential planets in the system are discussed. We also explore correlations
among stellar temperatures, ages, disk properties, and observed perturbations.
We find significant trends between the vertical aspect ratio and the stellar
temperature, disk radial extent, and the dust grain size distribution
power-law, $q$. We also confirm a trend between the disk color and stellar
effective temperature, where the disk becomes increasingly red/neutral with
increasing temperature. Such results have important implications on the
evolution of debris disk systems around stars of various spectral types.
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