Sparse Aperture Masking Observations of the FL Cha Pre-transitional Disk

TL;DR

This study uses sparse aperture masking observations and radiative transfer modeling to investigate the structure of the FL Cha pre-transitional disk, revealing flux asymmetries that could indicate a companion or disk features.

Contribution

It demonstrates the potential degeneracy in interpreting SAM signals in transitional disks and emphasizes the need for multi-epoch, multi-wavelength follow-up observations.

Findings

Detected flux asymmetry in the disk's K-band emission.

Modeling suggests the gap extends from 0.06 to 8.3 AU.

Possible presence of a companion at 6 AU or a bright source at 2.4 AU.

Abstract

We present deep Sparse Aperture Masking (SAM) observations obtained with the ESO Very Large Telescope of the pre-transitional disk object FL Cha (SpT=K8, d=160 pc), the disk of which is known to have a wide optically thin gap separating optically thick inner and outer disk components. We find non-zero closure phases, indicating a significant flux asymmetry in the K-band emission (e.g., a departure from a single point source detection). We also present radiative transfer modeling of the SED of the FL Cha system and find that the gap extends from ~0.06 to ~8.3 AU. We demonstrate that the non-zero closure phases can be explained almost equally well by starlight scattered off the inner edge of the outer disk or by a (sub)stellar companion. Single-epoch, single-wavelength SAM observations of transitional disks with large cavities that could become resolved should thus be interpreted with caution, taking the disk and its properties into consideration. In the context of a binary model, the signal is most consistent with a high-contrast (delta_K ~4.8 mag) source at a ~40 mas (6 AU) projected separation. However, the flux ratio and separation parameters remain highly degenerate and a much brighter source (deta_K ~1 mag) at 15 mas (2.4 AU) can also reproduce the signal. Second-epoch, multi-wavelength observations are needed to establish the nature of the SAM detection in FL Cha.