AB Aurigae
AB Aurigae is a Herbig Ae star[3] in the Auriga constellation. It is known for hosting a dust disk that may harbour a condensing planet or brown dwarf. The star could host a possible substellar companion in wide orbit. The star is part of the young Taurus-Auriga association, which is located in the Taurus Molecular Cloud.[9]
Observation data Epoch J2000 Equinox J2000 | |
---|---|
Constellation | Auriga |
Right ascension | 04h 55m 45.8445s |
Declination | +30° 33′ 04.292″ |
Apparent magnitude (V) | 7.05[1] |
Characteristics | |
Spectral type | A0Vpe |
U−B color index | +0.04[2] |
B−V color index | +0.11[2] |
Variable type | INA (Herbig Ae)[3][4] |
Astrometry | |
Radial velocity (Rv) | 8.90 ± 0.9[5] km/s |
Proper motion (μ) | RA: 3.926 ± 0.097[6] mas/yr Dec.: -24.112 ± 0.068[6] mas/yr |
Parallax (π) | 6.1400 ± 0.0571[6] mas |
Distance | 531 ± 5 ly (163 ± 2 pc) |
Details | |
Mass | 2.4[7] M☉ |
Radius | 2.5[8] R☉ |
Luminosity | 47[7] L☉ |
Temperature | 9772[7] K |
Other designations | |
Database references | |
SIMBAD | data |
Protoplanetary disk
In 2017 scientists used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array to take an image of the protoplanetary disk around AB Aurigae. The image showed a dusty disk which has a radius of about 120 astronomical units and a distinct "gap". Inside this gap gaseous spiral arms are detected in CO.[10][3]
Planetary system
Oppenheimer et al. (2008)[11] observed an annulus feature in AB Aurigae's dust disk between 43 and 302 AU from the star, a region never seen before. An azimuthal gap in an annulus of dust at a radius of 102 AU would suggest the formation of at least one small body at an orbital distance of nearly 100 AU. Such object could turn out either a massive planetary companion or more likely a brown dwarf companion, in both cases located at nearly 100 AU from the bright star. So far the object is unconfirmed.
Observations with ALMA found two gaseous spiral arms inside the disk. These are best explained by an unseen planet with a semimajor axis of about 60-80 au. An additional planet with a semimajor axis of 30 au and with a large pitch angle compared to the disk (likely higher inclination) could explain the emptiness of the inner dusty disk.[3]
Companion (in order from star) |
Mass | Semimajor axis (AU) |
Orbital period (years) |
Eccentricity | Inclination | Radius |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
b (unconfirmed) | ≥5–37 MJ | 102 | ≥800 | ? | — | — |
Gallery
- AB Aurigae and its dust disk seen by Hubble
References
- Ducati, J. R. (2002). "VizieR Online Data Catalog: Catalogue of Stellar Photometry in Johnson's 11-color system". CDS/ADC Collection of Electronic Catalogues. 2237. Bibcode:2002yCat.2237....0D.
- Nicolet, B. (1964). "Catalogue of homogeneous data in the UBV photoelectric photometric system". Astronomy and Astrophysics Supplement Series. 34: 1–49. Bibcode:1978A&AS...34....1N.
- Tang, Ya-Wen; Guilloteau, Stephane; Dutrey, Anne; Muto, Takayuki; Shen, Bo-Ting; Gu, Pin-Gao; Inutsuka, Shu-ichiro; Momose, Munetake; Pietu, Vincent; Fukagawa, Misato; Chapillon, Edwige (May 2017). "Planet Formation in AB Aurigae: Imaging of the Inner Gaseous Spirals Observed inside the Dust Cavity". The Astrophysical Journal. 840 (1): 32. arXiv:1704.02699. Bibcode:2017ApJ...840...32T. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aa6af7. ISSN 0004-637X.
- Samus', N. N.; Kazarovets, E. V.; Durlevich, O. V.; Kireeva, N. N.; Pastukhova, E. N. (January 2017). "General catalogue of variable stars: Version GCVS 5.1". ARep. 61 (1): 80–88. Bibcode:2017ARep...61...80S. doi:10.1134/S1063772917010085. ISSN 1063-7729.
- Gontcharov, G. A. (2006). "Pulkovo Compilation of Radial Velocities for 35 495 Hipparcos stars in a common system". Astronomy Letters. 32 (11): 759–771. arXiv:1606.08053. Bibcode:2006AstL...32..759G. doi:10.1134/S1063773706110065.
- Gaia Collaboration (2018-08-01). "Gaia Data Release 2 - Summary of the contents and survey properties". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 616: A1. arXiv:1804.09365. Bibcode:2018A&A...616A...1G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201833051. ISSN 0004-6361.
- Tannirkulam, A.; Monnier, J. D.; Harries, T. J.; Millan‐Gabet, R.; Zhu, Z.; Pedretti, E.; Ireland, M.; Tuthill, P.; Ten Brummelaar, T.; McAlister, H.; Farrington, C.; Goldfinger, P. J.; Sturmann, J.; Sturmann, L.; Turner, N. (2008). "A Tale of Two Herbig Ae Stars, MWC 275 and AB Aurigae: Comprehensive Models for Spectral Energy Distribution and Interferometry". The Astrophysical Journal. 689 (1): 513–531. arXiv:0808.1728. Bibcode:2008ApJ...689..513T. doi:10.1086/592346.
- Li, Dan; Pantin, Eric; Telesco, Charles M.; Zhang, Han; Wright, Christopher M.; Barnes, Peter J.; Packham, Chris; Mariñas, Naibí (2016). "AN ORDERED MAGNETIC FIELD IN THE PROTOPLANETARY DISK OF AB Aur REVEALED BY MID-INFRARED POLARIMETRY". The Astrophysical Journal. 832 (1): 18. arXiv:1609.02493. Bibcode:2016ApJ...832...18L. doi:10.3847/0004-637X/832/1/18.
- Gagné, Jonathan; Mamajek, Eric E.; Malo, Lison; Riedel, Adric; Rodriguez, David; Lafrenière, David; Faherty, Jacqueline K.; Roy-Loubier, Olivier; Pueyo, Laurent; Robin, Annie C.; Doyon, René (March 2018). "BANYAN. XI. The BANYAN Σ Multivariate Bayesian Algorithm to Identify Members of Young Associations with 150 pc". Astrophysical Journal. 856 (1): 23. arXiv:1801.09051. Bibcode:2018ApJ...856...23G. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aaae09. ISSN 0004-637X.
- "Astronomers Found Spirals Inside a Dust Gap of a Young Star Forming Disk". ALMA. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
- Oppenheimer, Ben R.; et al. (2008). "The Solar-System-Scale Disk around AB Aurigae". The Astrophysical Journal. 679 (2): 1574–1581. arXiv:0803.3629. Bibcode:2008ApJ...679.1574O. doi:10.1086/587778.
Further reading
- Telleschi, A.; Güdel, M.; Briggs, K. R.; Skinner, S. L.; Audard, M.; Franciosini, E. (2007). "The first high-resolution X-ray spectrum of a Herbig star: AB Aurigae". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 468 (2): 541–556. arXiv:astro-ph/0610456. Bibcode:2007A&A...468..541T. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20065422.
- Oppenheimer, Ben R.; Brenner, Douglas; Hinkley, Sasha; Zimmerman, Neil; Sivaramakrishnan, Anand; Soummer, Remi; et al. (2008). "The Solar-System-Scale Disk around AB Aurigae". The Astrophysical Journal. 679 (2): 1574–1581. arXiv:0803.3629. Bibcode:2008ApJ...679.1574O. doi:10.1086/587778.
- Bitner, Martin A.; Richter, Matthew J.; Lacy, John H.; Greathouse, Thomas K.; Jaffe, Daniel T.; Blake, Geoffrey A. (2007). "TEXES Observations of Pure Rotational H2 Emission from AB Aurigae". The Astrophysical Journal. 661 (1): L69–L72. arXiv:0704.1481. Bibcode:2007ApJ...661L..69B. doi:10.1086/518717.
- Fukagawa, Misato; Hayashi, Masahiko; Tamura, Motohide; Itoh, Yoichi; Hayashi, Saeko S.; Oasa, Yumiko; et al. (2004). "Spiral Structure in the Circumstellar Disk around AB Aurigae". The Astrophysical Journal. 605 (1): L53–L56. Bibcode:2004ApJ...605L..53F. doi:10.1086/420699.
- L. P. Keller; S. Hony; J. P. Bradley; F. J. Molster; L. B. F. M. Waters; J. Bouwman; et al. (2002). "Identification of iron sulphide grains in protoplanetary disks". Nature. 417 (6885): 148–150. Bibcode:2002Natur.417..148K. doi:10.1038/417148a. PMID 12000914.
- Overbye, Dennis (2008-03-26). "Star's Dust May Hold Clue to New Planet". www.nytimes.com. Archived from the original on December 10, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
- "Image AB Aurigae". SIMBAD. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
- "AB Aurigae: How To Make Planets". NASA. Archived from the original on 29 September 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
- "AB Aurigae". jumk.de. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
- "Planet in Progress? Evidence Of A Huge Planet Forming In Star System". Science News. Archived from the original on 10 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
- "Spiral Dance in a Planetary Nursery". Subaru Telescope. Retrieved 2008-10-15.
- "The Source of Stelar Magnetism". news.softpedia.com. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
- "XMM-Newton unlocks magnetic mystery". iTWire. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
- "Silicate Stardust in Meteorites". Planetary science research. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
- "Image Multimidea Gallery ESA". ESA. Retrieved 2008-10-16.