The debris disc of solar analogue Ceti: Herschel observations and dynamical simulations of the proposed multiplanet system

Lawler, S. M., Di Francesco, J., Kennedy, G. M., Sibthorpe, B., Booth, M., Vandenbussche, B., Matthews, B. C., Holland, W. S., Greaves, Jane ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3133-413X, Wilner, D. J., Tuomi, M., Blommaert, J. A. D. L., de Vries, B. L., Dominik, C., Fridlund, M., Gear, Walter ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6789-6196, Heras, A. M., Ivison, R. and Olofsson, G. 2014. The debris disc of solar analogue Ceti: Herschel observations and dynamical simulations of the proposed multiplanet system. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 444 (3) , pp. 2665-2675. 10.1093/mnras/stu1641

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Abstract

τ Ceti is a nearby, mature G-type star very similar to our Sun, with a massive Kuiper Belt analogue and possible multiplanet system that has been compared to our Solar system. We present Herschel Space Observatory images of the debris disc, finding the disc is resolved at 70 μm and 160 μm, and marginally resolved at 250 μm. The Herschel images and infrared photometry from the literature are best modelled using a wide dust annulus with an inner edge between 1 and 10 au and an outer edge at∼55 au, inclined from face-on by 35◦ ±10◦, and with no significant azimuthal structure. We model the proposed tightly packed planetary system of five super-Earths and find that the innermost dynamically stable disc orbits are consistent with the inner edge found by the observations. The photometric modelling, however, cannot rule out a disc inner edge as close to the star as 1 au, though larger distances produce a better fit to the data. Dynamical modelling shows that the five-planet system is stable with the addition of a Neptune or smaller mass planet on an orbit outside 5 au, where the radial velocity data analysis would not have detected a planet of this mass.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Physics and Astronomy
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
ISSN:	00358711
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	17 July 2017
Date of Acceptance:	10 August 2014
Last Modified:	05 May 2023 17:42
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/102493

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