KIC 8462852: THE INFRARED FLUX

Journal Article · Fri Nov 20 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/814/1/L15· OSTI ID:22518677

Marengo, Massimo; Hulsebus, Alan ^[1]; Willis, Sarah ^[2]

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1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011 (United States)
2. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)

We analyzed the warm Spitzer/IRAC data of KIC 8462852. We found no evidence of infrared excess at 3.6 μm and a small excess of 0.43 ± 0.18 mJy at 4.5 μm below the 3σ threshold necessary to claim a detection. The lack of strong infrared excess 2 years after the events responsible for the unusual light curve observed by Kepler further disfavors the scenarios involving a catastrophic collision in a KIC 8462852 asteroid belt, a giant impact disrupting a planet in the system or a population of dust-enshrouded planetesimals. The scenario invoking the fragmentation of a family of comets on a highly elliptical orbit is instead consistent with the lack of strong infrared excess found by our analysis.

• OSTI ID: 22518677
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 814, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ASTEROIDS
COMETS
COSMIC DUST
DETECTION
DIAGRAMS
FRAGMENTATION
INFRARED RADIATION
INFRARED SPECTRA
ORBITS
PLANETS
STARS
VISIBLE RADIATION