Examinando por Autor "Kennedy, G. M."

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    Ítem
    A near-infrared interferometric survey of debris-disk stars VII. The hot-to-warm dust connection
    (European Southern Observatory (ESO), 2021) Absil, O.; Marion, L.; Ertel, S.; Defrère, D.; Kennedy, G. M.; Romagnolo, A.; Le Bouquin, J.-B.; Christiaens, V.; Milli, J.; Bonsor, A.; Olofsson, Johan; Su, K. Y. L.; Augereau, J.-C.
    Context. Hot exozodiacal dust has been shown to be present in the innermost regions of an increasing number of main sequence stars over the past 15 yr. However, the origin of hot exozodiacal dust and its connection with outer dust reservoirs remains unclear. Aims. We aim to explore the possible connection between hot exozodiacal dust and warm dust reservoirs (≥100 K) in asteroid belts. Methods. We use precision near-infrared interferometry with VLTI/PIONIER to search for resolved emission at H-band around a selected sample of 62 nearby stars that show possible signs of warm dust populations. Results. Our observations reveal the presence of resolved near-infrared emission around 17 out of 52 stars with sufficient data quality. For four of these, the emission is shown to be due to a previously unknown stellar companion. The 13 other H-band excesses are thought to originate from the thermal emission of hot dust grains, close to their sublimation temperature. Taking into account earlier PIONIER observations, where some stars with warm dust were also observed, and after re-evaluating the warm dust content of all our PIONIER targets through spectral energy distribution modeling, we find a detection rate of 17.1−4.6+8.1% for H-band excess around main sequence stars hosting warm dust belts, which is statistically compatible with the occurrence rate of 14.6−2.8+4.3% found around stars showing no signs of warm dust. After correcting for the sensitivity loss due to partly unresolved hot disks, under the assumption that they are arranged in a thin ring around their sublimation radius, we find tentative evidence at the 3σ level that H-band excesses around stars with outer dust reservoirs (warm or cold) could be statistically larger than H-band excesses around stars with no detectable outer dust. Conclusions. Our observations do not suggest a direct connection between warm and hot dust populations at the sensitivity level of the considered instruments, although they bring to light a possible correlation between the level of H-band excess and the presence of outer dust reservoirs in general.
  • Miniatura
    Ítem
    The HD 98800 quadruple pre-main sequence system Towards full orbital characterisation using long-baseline infrared interferometry
    (European Southern Observatory (ESO), 2021) Zúñiga-Fernández, S.; Olofsson, Johan; Bayo, Amelia; Haubois, X.; Corral-Santana, J. M.; Lopera-Mejía, A.; Ronco, M. P.; Tokovinin, A.; Gallenne, A.; Kennedy, G. M.; Berger, J.-P.
    Context. HD 98800 is a young (∼10 Myr old) and nearby (∼45 pc) quadruple system, composed of two spectroscopic binaries orbiting around each other (AaAb and BaBb), with a gas-rich disk in polar configuration around BaBb. While the orbital parameters of BaBb and AB are relatively well constrained, this is not the case for AaAb. A full characterisation of this quadruple system can provide insights on the formation of such a complex system. Aims. The goal of this work is to determine the orbit of the AaAb subsystem and refine the orbital solution of BaBb using multi-epoch interferometric observations with the Very Large Telescope Interferometer PIONIER and radial velocities. Methods. The PIONIER observations provide relative astrometric positions and flux ratios for both AaAa and BaBb subsystems. Combining the astrometric points with radial velocity measurements, we determine the orbital parameters of both subsystems. Results. We refined the orbital solution of BaBb and derived, for the first time, the full orbital solution of AaAb. We confirmed the polar configuration of the circumbinary disk around BaBb. From our solutions, we also inferred the dynamical masses of AaAb (MAa = 0.93 ± 0.09 and MAb = 0.29 ± 0.02 M⊙). We also revisited the parameters of the AB outer orbit. Conclusions. The orbital parameters are relevant to test the long-term stability of the system and to evaluate possible formation scenarios of HD 98800. Using the N-body simulation, we show that the system should be dynamically stable over thousands of orbital periods and that it made preliminary predictions for the transit of the disk in front of AaAb which is estimated to start around 2026. We discuss the lack of a disk around AaAb, which can be explained by the larger X-ray luminosity of AaAb, promoting faster photo-evaporation of the disk. High-resolution infrared spectroscopic observations would provide radial velocities of Aa and Ab (blended lines in contemporary observations), which would allow us to calculate the dynamical masses of Aa and Ab independently of the parallax of BaBb. Further monitoring of other hierarchical systems will improve our understanding of the formation and dynamical evolution of these kinds of systems.