HD 172555: detection of 63 microns [OI] emission in a debris disc

TL;DR

This study reports the first detection of atomic oxygen gas at 63 microns in the debris disc of HD 172555, revealing significant gaseous material alongside dust in this young star system.

Contribution

First detection of [OI] emission in HD 172555's debris disc, providing new insights into its gas and dust composition and distribution.

Findings

Detected [OI] emission at 63 microns in the debris disc.

Derived a dust mass of 4.8e-4 Earth masses.

Estimated atomic oxygen mass as 2.5e-2*R^2 Earth masses.

Abstract

Context. HD 172555 is a young A7 star belonging to the Beta Pictoris Moving Group that harbours a debris disc. The Spitzer IRS spectrum of the source showed mid-IR features such as silicates and glassy silica species, indicating the presence of a warm dust component with small grains, which places HD 172555 among the small group of debris discs with such properties. The IRS spectrum also shows a possible emission of SiO gas. Aims. We aim to study the dust distribution in the circumstellar disc of HD 172555 and to asses the presence of gas in the debris disc. Methods. As part of the GASPS Open Time Key Programme, we obtained Herschel-PACS photometric and spectroscopic observations of the source. We analysed PACS observations of HD 172555 and modelled the Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) with a modified blackbody and the gas emission with a two-level population model with no collisional de-excitation. Results. We report for the first time the detection of OI atomic gas emission at 63.18 microns in the HD 172555 circumstellar disc. We detect excesses due to circumstellar dust toward HD 172555 in the three photometric bands of PACS (70, 100, and 160 microns). We derive a large dust particle mass of 4.8e-4 Earth masses and an atomic oxygen mass of 2.5e-2*R^2 Earth masses, where R in AU is the separation between the star and the inner disc. Thus, most of the detected mass of the disc is in the gaseous phase.