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Exocomet orbit fitting : accelerating coma absorption during transits of β pictoris

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Kennedy, Grant M. (2018) Exocomet orbit fitting : accelerating coma absorption during transits of β pictoris. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 479 (2). pp. 1997-2006. doi:10.1093/mnras/sty1477 ISSN 0035-8711.

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sty1477

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Abstract

Comets are a remarkable feature in our night sky, visible on their passage through the inner Solar system as the Sun's energy sublimates ices and liberates surface material, generating beautiful comae, dust, and ion tails. Comets are also thought to orbit other stars, and are the most promising interpretation of sporadic absorption features (i.e. transits) seen in spectra of stars such as β Pictoris and 49 Ceti. These "exocomets" are thought to form and evolve in the same way as in the Solar system, and as in the Solar system we may gain insight into their origins by deriving their orbits. In the case of β Pictoris, orbits have been estimated indirectly, using the radial velocity of the absorption features coupled with a physical evaporation model to estimate the stellocentric distance at transit dtr. Here, we note that the inferred dtr imply that some absorption signatures should accelerate over several hours, and show that this acceleration is indeed seen in HARPS spectra. This new constraint means that orbital characteristics can be obtained directly, and the pericentre distance and longitude constrained when parabolic orbits are assumed. The results from fitting orbits to 12 accelerating features, and a handful of non-accelerating ones, are in broad agreement with previous estimates based on an evaporation model, thereby providing some validation of the exocomet hypothesis. A prediction of the evaporation model, that coma absorption is deeper for more distant transits, is also seen here.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: Q Science > QB Astronomy
Divisions: Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Physics
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Comets, Comets -- Orbits, Circumstellar matter, Planetary systems
Journal or Publication Title: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISSN: 0035-8711
Official Date: September 2018
Dates:
DateEvent
September 2018Published
6 June 2018Available
30 May 2018Accepted
Volume: 479
Number: 2
Page Range: pp. 1997-2006
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/sty1477
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access
Date of first compliant deposit: 19 June 2018
Date of first compliant Open Access: 19 June 2018
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant:
Project/Grant IDRIOXX Funder NameFunder ID
UNSPECIFIED[RS] Royal Societyhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000288
Open Access Version:
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