A DISK AROUND THE PLANETARY-MASS COMPANION GSC 06214-00210 b: CLUES ABOUT THE FORMATION OF GAS GIANTS ON WIDE ORBITS

Journal Article · Tue Dec 20 04:00:00 EST 2011 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/743/2/148· OSTI ID:22004439

Bowler, Brendan P; Liu, Michael C; Kraus, Adam L; Mann, Andrew W ^[1]

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1. Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States)

We present Keck OSIRIS 1.1-1.8 {mu}m adaptive optics integral field spectroscopy of the planetary-mass companion to GSC 06214-00210, a member of the {approx}5 Myr Upper Scorpius OB association. We infer a spectral type of L0 {+-} 1, and our spectrum exhibits multiple signs of youth. The most notable feature is exceptionally strong Pa{beta} emission (EW = -11.4 {+-} 0.3 A), which signals the presence of a circumplanetary accretion disk. The luminosity of GSC 06214-00210 b combined with its age yields a model-dependent mass of 14 {+-} 2 M{sub Jup}, making it the lowest-mass companion to show evidence of a disk. With a projected separation of 320 AU, the formation of GSC 06214-00210 b and other very low mass companions on similarly wide orbits is unclear. One proposed mechanism is formation at close separations followed by planet-planet scattering to much larger orbits. Since that scenario involves a close encounter with another massive body, which is probably destructive to circumplanetary disks, it is unlikely that GSC 06214-00210 b underwent a scattering event in the past. This implies that planet-planet scattering is not solely responsible for the population of gas giants on wide orbits. More generally, the identification of disks around young planetary companions on wide orbits offers a novel method to constrain the formation pathway of these objects, which is otherwise notoriously difficult to do for individual systems. We also refine the spectral type of the primary from M1 to K7 and detect a mild (2{sigma}) excess at 22 {mu}m using Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer photometry.

• OSTI ID: 22004439
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 743; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ACCRETION DISKS
INFRARED SURVEYS
LUMINOSITY
MASS
ORBITS
PHOTOMETRY
PLANETS
SPECTROSCOPY
STARS