HD141569A: disk dissipation caught in action

TL;DR

This paper presents the first high-resolution maps of gas and dust in HD141569A, revealing a hybrid disk with significant primordial gas coexisting with evolved dust, challenging the typical gas-poor debris disk paradigm.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed observations of gas in a debris disk, showing the coexistence of primordial gas and evolved dust in HD141569A.

Findings

Large amount of primordial gas extends to 250 au

Gas coexists with debris dust in the disk

HD141569A is a hybrid disk with both gas and dust components

Abstract

Debris disks are usually thought to be gas-poor, the gas being dissipated by accretion or evaporation during the protoplanetary phase. HD141569A is a 5 Myr old star harboring a famous debris disk, with multiple rings and spiral features. We present here the first PdBI maps of the 12CO(2-1), 13CO(2-1) gas and dust emission at 1.3 mm in this disk. The analysis reveals there is still a large amount of (primordial) gas extending out to 250 au, i. e. inside the rings observed in scattered light. HD141569A is thus a hybrid disk with a huge debris component, where dust has evolved and is produced by collisions, with a large remnant reservoir of gas.