The AU Mic Debris Disk: far-infrared and submillimeter resolved imaging

TL;DR

This study provides far-infrared and submillimeter imaging of the AU Mic debris disk, revealing a resolved disk with a halo, consistent with a 'birth ring' model, and analyzes dust grain dynamics influenced by stellar wind.

Contribution

First resolved imaging of AU Mic's debris disk across multiple wavelengths, including detection of the halo and detailed modeling of disk structure and dust grain dynamics.

Findings

Disk detected at multiple wavelengths from 70 to 850 microns.

Resolved at 70, 160, and 450 microns, revealing a halo.

Disk consistent with a 'birth ring' model with an extended halo.

Abstract

We present far-infrared and submillimeter maps from the Herschel Space Observatory and the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope of the debris disk host star AU Microscopii. Disk emission is detected at 70, 160, 250, 350, 450, 500 and 850 micron. The disk is resolved at 70, 160 and 450 micron. In addition to the planetesimal belt, we detect thermal emission from AU Mic's halo for the first time. In contrast to the scattered light images, no asymmetries are evident in the disk. The fractional luminosity of the disk is $3.9 \times 10^{-4}$ and its mm-grain dust mass is 0.01 MEarth (+/- 20%). We create a simple spatial model that reconciles the disk SED as a blackbody of 53 +/- 2 K (a composite of 39 and 50 K components) and the presence of small (non-blackbody) grains which populate the extended halo. The best fit model is consistent with the "birth ring" model explored in earlier works, i.e., an edge-on dust belt extending from 8.8-40 AU, but with an additional halo component with an $r^{-1.5}$ surface density profile extending to the limits of sensitivity (140 AU). We confirm that AU Mic does not exert enough radiation force to blow out grains. For stellar mass loss rates of 10-100x solar, compact (zero porosity) grains can only be removed if they are very small, consistently with previous work, if the porosity is 0.9, then grains approaching 0.1 micron can be removed via corpuscular forces (i.e., the stellar wind).