NICMOS Observations of the Pre-Main-Sequence Planetary Debris System HD 98800

Abstract

Spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from 0.4 to 4.7 μm are presented for the two principal stellar components of HD 98800, A and B. The third major component, an extensive planetary debris system (PDS), emits greater than 20% of the luminosity of star B in a blackbody SED at 164+/-5 K extending from mid-IR to millimeter wavelengths. At 0.95 μm, a preliminary upper limit of less than 0.06 is obtained for the ratio of reflected light to the total from star B. This result limits the albedo of the PDS to less than 0.3. Values are presented for the temperature, luminosity, and radius of each major systemic component. Remarkable similarities are found between the PDS and the interplanetary debris system around the Sun as it could have appeared a few million years after its formation.

Based on observations with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope obtained at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555.