The Fomalhaut debris disk seen from every angle with interferometry

O. Absil; B. Mennesson; J.-B. Le Bouquin; J.-C. Augereau; R. Millan-Gabet; M. Colavita; P. Hinz; W. Liu; G. Serabyn

doi:10.1117/12.858260

21 July 2010 The Fomalhaut debris disk seen from every angle with interferometry

O. Absil, B. Mennesson, J.-B. Le Bouquin, J.-C. Augereau, R. Millan-Gabet, M. Colavita, P. Hinz, W. Liu, G. Serabyn

Proceedings Volume 7734, Optical and Infrared Interferometry II; 773417 (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.858260
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2010, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

In this paper, we present the results of three different studies of the Fomalhaut debris disk with infrared interferometry. First, VLTI/AMBER measurements are used to determine the position angle of the slightly oblate rapidly rotating photosphere by means of differential phase measurements across the Br-gamma photospheric line. This measurement allows us to confirm that the debris disk is located in the equatorial plane of its host star. Second, we use VLTI/VINCI to search for resolved near-infrared emission around the stellar photosphere, which would correspond to the presence of large amounts of hot dust grains located between the sublimation radius and the habitable zone. Our observations reveal a small excess of 0.88%±0.12% in K band relative to the photospheric flux. Finally, we use the Keck Interferometer Nuller in order to derive additional constraints on the nature of the resolved infrared emission. Our observations suggest a marginal detection of a circumstellar excess at 10 μm, which we use together with the VINCI detection to model the circumstellar emission. Preliminary results from this modeling effort are discussed.

Citation Download Citation

O. Absil, B. Mennesson, J.-B. Le Bouquin, J.-C. Augereau, R. Millan-Gabet, M. Colavita, P. Hinz, W. Liu, and G. Serabyn "The Fomalhaut debris disk seen from every angle with interferometry", Proc. SPIE 7734, Optical and Infrared Interferometry II, 773417 (21 July 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.858260

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