TY - JOUR
T1 - Constraining the presence of giant planets in two-belt debris disc systems with VLT/SPHERE direct imaging and dynamical arguments
AU - Matthews, Elisabeth
AU - Hinkley, Sasha
AU - Vigan, Arthur
AU - Kennedy, Grant
AU - Sutlieff, Ben
AU - Wickenden, Dawn
AU - Treves, Sam
AU - David, Trevor
AU - Meshkat, Tiffany
AU - Mawet, Dimitri
AU - Morales, Farisa
AU - Shannon, Andrew
AU - Stapelfeldt, Karl
N1 - Funding Information:
EM thanks the University of Exeter for support through a Ph.D. studentship. GMK is supported by the Royal Society as a Royal Society University Research Fellow. AS is partially supported by funding from the Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds. The Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds is supported by the Pennsylvania State University, the Eberly College of Science, and the Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The Author(s).
PY - 2018/10
Y1 - 2018/10
N2 - Giant, wide-separation planets often lie in the gap between multiple, distinct rings of circumstellar debris: this is the case for the HR 8799 and HD95086 systems, and even the Solar system where the Asteroid and Kuiper belts enclose the four gas and ice giants. In the case that a debris disc, inferred from an infrared excess in the SED, is best modelled as two distinct temperatures, we infer the presence of two spatially separated rings of debris. Giant planets may well exist between these two belts of debris, and indeed could be responsible for the formation of the gap between these belts. We observe 24 such two-belt systems using the VLT/SPHERE high-contrast imager, and interpret our results under the assumption that the gap is indeed formed by one or more giant planets. A theoretical minimum mass for each planet can then be calculated, based on the predicted dynamical time-scales to clear debris. The typical dynamical lower limit is ~0.2MJ in this work, and in some cases exceeds 1MJ. Direct imaging data, meanwhile, are typically sensitive to planets down to ~3.6MJ at 1 arcsec, and 1.7MJ in the best case. Together, these two limits tightly constrain the possible planetary systems present around each target, many of which will be detectable with the next generation of high-contrast imagers.
AB - Giant, wide-separation planets often lie in the gap between multiple, distinct rings of circumstellar debris: this is the case for the HR 8799 and HD95086 systems, and even the Solar system where the Asteroid and Kuiper belts enclose the four gas and ice giants. In the case that a debris disc, inferred from an infrared excess in the SED, is best modelled as two distinct temperatures, we infer the presence of two spatially separated rings of debris. Giant planets may well exist between these two belts of debris, and indeed could be responsible for the formation of the gap between these belts. We observe 24 such two-belt systems using the VLT/SPHERE high-contrast imager, and interpret our results under the assumption that the gap is indeed formed by one or more giant planets. A theoretical minimum mass for each planet can then be calculated, based on the predicted dynamical time-scales to clear debris. The typical dynamical lower limit is ~0.2MJ in this work, and in some cases exceeds 1MJ. Direct imaging data, meanwhile, are typically sensitive to planets down to ~3.6MJ at 1 arcsec, and 1.7MJ in the best case. Together, these two limits tightly constrain the possible planetary systems present around each target, many of which will be detectable with the next generation of high-contrast imagers.
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U2 - 10.1093/MNRAS/STY1778
DO - 10.1093/MNRAS/STY1778
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85055160666
SN - 0035-8711
VL - 480
SP - 2757
EP - 2783
JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
IS - 2
ER -