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Transiting exocomets detected in broadband light by TESS in the β Pictoris system
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Zieba, S., Zwintz, K., Kenworthy, M. A. and Kennedy, Grant M. (2019) Transiting exocomets detected in broadband light by TESS in the β Pictoris system. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 625 . L13. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201935552 ISSN 0004-6361.
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WRAP-transiting-exocomet-detected-broadband-Pictoris-system-Kennedy-2019.pdf - Published Version - Requires a PDF viewer. Download (1417Kb) | Preview |
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201935552
Abstract
Aims
We search for signs of falling evaporating bodies (FEBs, also known as exocomets) in photometric time series obtained for β Pictoris after fitting and removing its δ Scuti-type pulsation frequencies.
Methods
Using photometric data obtained by the TESS satellite we determined the pulsational properties of the exoplanet host star β Pictoris through frequency analysis. We then pre-whitened the 54 identified δ Scuti p-modes and investigated the residual photometric time series for the presence of FEBs.
Results
We identify three distinct dipping events in the light curve of β Pictoris over a 105-day period. These dips have depths from 0.5 to 2 millimagnitudes and durations of up to 2 days for the largest dip. These dips are asymmetric in nature and are consistent with a model of an evaporating comet with an extended tail crossing the disc of the star
Conclusions
We present the first broadband detections of exocomets crossing the disc of β Pictoris, complementing the predictions made 20 years earlier by Lecavelier Des Etangs et al. (1999, A&A, 343, 916). No periodic transits are seen in this time series. These observations confirm the spectroscopic detection of exocomets in calcium H and K lines that have been seen in high resolution spectroscopy.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||||||
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Subjects: | Q Science > QC Physics | ||||||||||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Physics | ||||||||||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Comets, Planetary systems | ||||||||||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Astronomy & Astrophysics | ||||||||||||
Publisher: | EDP Sciences | ||||||||||||
ISSN: | 0004-6361 | ||||||||||||
Official Date: | 27 May 2019 | ||||||||||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | 625 | ||||||||||||
Article Number: | L13 | ||||||||||||
DOI: | 10.1051/0004-6361/201935552 | ||||||||||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||||||
Reuse Statement (publisher, data, author rights): | “Reproduced with permission from Astronomy & Astrophysics, © ESO”. | ||||||||||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||||||
Copyright Holders: | © ESO 2019 | ||||||||||||
Date of first compliant deposit: | 3 June 2019 | ||||||||||||
Date of first compliant Open Access: | 4 June 2019 | ||||||||||||
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
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