Confirmation and characterization of the protoplanet HD 100546 b—Direct evidence for gas giant planet formation at 50 AU
- Institute for Astronomy, ETH Zurich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 27, 8093 Zurich (Switzerland)
- European Southern Observatory, Alonso de Córdova 3107, Vitacura, Cassilla 19001, Santiago (Chile)
- Sterrewacht Leiden, P.O. Box 9513, Niels Bohrweg 2, 2300 RA Leiden (Netherlands)
- European Southern Observatory, Karl Schwarzschild Strasse, 2, D-85748 Garching bei München (Germany)
We present the first multi-wavelength, high-contrast imaging study confirming the protoplanet embedded in the disk around the Herbig Ae/Be star HD 100546. The object is detected at L′ (∼3.8 μm) and M′ (∼4.8 μm), but not at K{sub s} (∼2.1 μm), and the emission consists of a point source component surrounded by spatially resolved emission. For the point source component we derive apparent magnitudes of L′=13.92±0.10 mag, M′=13.33±0.16 mag, and K{sub s}>15.43±0.06 mag (3σ limit), and a separation and position angle of (0.457±0.014){sup ′′} and (8.4±1.4){sup ∘}, and (0.472±0.014){sup ′′} and (9.2±1.4){sup ∘} in L′ and M′, respectively. We demonstrate that the object is co-moving with HD 100546 and can reject any (sub-)stellar fore-/background object. Fitting a single-temperature blackbody to the observed fluxes of the point source component yields an effective temperature of T{sub eff}=932{sub −202}{sup +193} K and a radius for the emitting area of R=6.9{sub −2.9}{sup +2.7} R{sub Jupiter}. The best-fit luminosity is L=(2.3{sub −0.4}{sup +0.6})⋅10{sup −4} L{sub ⊙}. We quantitatively compare our findings with predictions from evolutionary and atmospheric models for young, gas giant planets, discuss the possible existence of a warm, circumplanetary disk, and note that the deprojected physical separation from the host star of (53±2) AU poses a challenge to standard planet formation theories. Considering the suspected existence of an additional planet orbiting at ∼13–14 AU, HD 100546 appears to be an unprecedented laboratory to study the formation of multiple gas giant planets empirically.
- OSTI ID:
- 22882957
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 807, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Since 2009, the country of publication for this journal is the UK.; ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Language:
- English
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