Evidence for the Disruption of a Planetary System During the Formation of the Helix Nebula

0583717 - ASÚ 2024 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Marshall, J.P. … Total 8 authors
Evidence for the Disruption of a Planetary System During the Formation of the Helix Nebula.
Astronomical Journal. Roč. 165, č. 1 (2023), č. článku 22. ISSN 0004-6256. E-ISSN 1538-3881
Research Infrastructure: EU-ARC.CZ III - 90259
Keywords : white dwarf stars * circumstellar disks * infrared excess
OECD category: Astronomy (including astrophysics,space science)
Impact factor: 5.3, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Open access
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ac9d90

We combine infrared (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, Spitzer, Herschel) and millimeter (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) observations of the system to determine the origin of this excess using multiwavelength imaging and radiative transfer modeling. We find the data are incompatible with a compact remnant planetesimal belt or post-AGB disk, and conclude the dust most likely originates from deposition by a cometary cloud. The measured dust mass, and lifetime of the constituent grains, implies disruption of several thousand Hale-Bopp equivalent comets per year to fuel the observed excess emission around the Helix Nebula's white dwarf.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0351714