Resolving The Moth at Millimeter Wavelengths

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution 1.3 mm observations to analyze the debris disk around HD 61005, revealing a ring structure and dust grain segregation, supporting an interstellar medium interaction hypothesis.

Contribution

First resolved millimeter-wavelength imaging of HD 61005's debris disk, providing detailed insights into its structure and dust grain distribution.

Findings

Disk exhibits a double-peaked morphology at millimeter wavelengths.

Millimeter emission mainly from a thin ring, not the scattered light wings.

Dust grain segregation supports ISM-driven origin for the wings.

Abstract

HD 61005, also known as "The Moth," is one of only a handful of debris disks that exhibit swept-back "wings" thought to be caused by interaction with the ambient interstellar medium (ISM). We present 1.3 mm Submillimeter Array (SMA) observations of the debris disk around HD 61005 at a spatial resolution of 1.9 arcsec that resolve the emission from large grains for the first time. The disk exhibits a double-peaked morphology at millimeter wavelengths, consistent with an optically thin ring viewed close to edge-on. To investigate the disk structure and the properties of the dust grains we simultaneously model the spatially resolved 1.3 mm visibilities and the unresolved spectral energy distribution. The temperatures indicated by the SED are consistent with expected temperatures for grains close to the blowout size located at radii commensurate with the millimeter and scattered light data. We also perform a visibility-domain analysis of the spatial distribution of millimeter-wavelength flux, incorporating constraints on the disk geometry from scattered light imaging, and find suggestive evidence of wavelength-dependent structure. The millimeter-wavelength emission apparently originates predominantly from the thin ring component rather than tracing the "wings" observed in scattered light. The implied segregation of large dust grains in the ring is consistent with an ISM-driven origin for the scattered light wings.