Cold DUst around NEarby Stars (DUNES). First results. A resolved exo-Kuiper belt around the solar-like star ζ2 Ret
Heras, A. M.; Fridlund, M.; Olofsson, G.; Kamp, I.; Eiroa, C.; Löhne, T.; Montesinos, B.; Absil, O.; Ardila, D.; Bayo, A.; Bryden, G.; Danchi, W.; Ertel, S.; Lebreton, J.; Liseau, R.; Mora, A.; Mutschke, H.; Pilbratt, G. L.; Roberge, A.; White, G. J.; Wolf, S.; Ribas, I.; Montes, D.; Fedele, D.; Stapelfeldt, K.; Solano, E.; Sanz-Forcada, J.; Maldonado, J.; Barrado, D.; Nakagawa, T.; Grün, E.; Gutiérrez, R.; Marshall, J.; Meeus, G.; Krivov, A.; Walker, H.; Fukagawa, M.; Thébault, P.; Launhardt, R.; Rodmann, J.; Arévalo, M.; Beichmann, C.; González-García, B. M.; Martínez-Arnáiz, R.; Lorente, R.; Morbidelli, A.; Müller, S.; Del Burgo, C.; Augereau, J. -Ch.
Spain, Germany, United States, Netherlands, France, Sweden, Chile, Belgium, Portugal, Japan, United Kingdom
Abstract
We present the first far-IR observations of the solar-type stars δ Pav, HR 8501, 51 Peg and ζ2 Ret, taken within the context of the DUNES Herschel open time key programme (OTKP). This project uses the PACS and SPIRE instruments with the objective of studying infrared excesses due to exo-Kuiper belts around nearby solar-type stars. The observed 100 μm fluxes from δ Pav, HR 8501, and 51 Peg agree with the predicted photospheric fluxes, excluding debris disks brighter than Ldust/Lstar 5 × 10-7 (1σ level) around those stars. A flattened, disk-like structure with a semi-major axis of 100 AU in size is detected around ζ2 Ret. The resolved structure suggests the presence of an eccentric dust ring, which we interpret as an exo-Kuiper belt with Ldust/Lstar ≈ 10-5.
Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA.