The Vega Debris Disk — A Surprise from Spitzer

Astrophysics, abstract
astro-ph/0504086

From: Kate Y. L. Su [view email]

Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2005 21:33:42 GMT   (776kb)

The Vega Debris Disk — A Surprise from Spitzer

Authors:
K. Y. L. Su (1),
G. H. Rieke (1),
K. A. Misselt (1),
J. A. Stansberry (1),
A. Moro-Martin (1,3),
K. R. Stapelfeldt (2),
M. W. Werner (2),
D. E. Trilling (1),
G. J. Bendo (1),
K. D. Gordon (1),
D. C. Hines (4),
M. C. Wyatt (5),
W. S. Holland (5),
M. Marengo (6),
S. T. Megeath (6),
G. G. Fazio (6) ((1) Steward Observatory, (2) JPL/Caltech, (3) Max-Planck-Institut fur Astronomie, (4) Space Science Institute, (5) Royal Observatory, (6) CfA)

Comments: 13 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ. (Figures 2,
3a, 3b and 4 have been degraded to lower resolutions.)

We present high spatial resolution mid- and far-infrared images of the Vega
debris disk obtained with the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS).
The disk is well resolved and its angular size is much larger than found
previously. The radius of the disk is at least 43" (330 AU), 70"(543 AU), and
105" (815 AU) in extent at 24, 70 and 160 um, respectively. The disk images are
circular, smooth and without clumpiness at all three wavelengths. The radial
surface brightness profiles imply an inner boundary at a radius of 11"+/-2" (86
AU). Assuming an amalgam of amorphous silicate and carbonaceous grains, the
disk can be modeled as an axially symmetric and geometrically thin disk, viewed
face-on, with the surface particle number density following an r^-1 power law.
The disk radiometric properties are consistent with a range of models using
grains of sizes ~1 to ~50 um. We find that a ring, containing grains larger
than 180 um and at radii of 86-200 AU from the star, can reproduce the observed
850 um flux, while its emission does not violate the observed MIPS profiles.
This ring could be associated with a population of larger asteroidal bodies
analogous to our own Kuiper Belt. Cascades of collisions starting with
encounters among these large bodies in the ring produce the small debris that is
blown outward by radiation pressure to much larger distances where we detect
its thermal emission. The dust production rate is >~10^15 g/s based on the MIPS
results. This rate would require a very massive asteroidal reservoir for the
dust to be produced in a steady state throughout Vega’s life. Instead, we
suggest that the disk we imaged is ephemeral and that we are witnessing the
aftermath of a large and relatively recent collisional event, and subsequent
collisional cascade.

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