First images of debris disks around TWA 7, TWA 25, HD 35650, and HD 377

TL;DR

This paper presents the first direct images of debris disks around four low-mass stars, revealing their structure and asymmetry, and expanding the sample of such disks for comparative analysis.

Contribution

It provides the first scattered light images of debris disks around M and late-K stars, using archival HST data and modern processing techniques.

Findings

Disks are faint and compact compared to other resolved debris disks.

Three disks are highly inclined, one is nearly face-on.

HD 35650's disk shows strong asymmetry.

Abstract

We present the first images of four debris disks observed in scattered light around the young (4--250 Myr old) M dwarfs TWA 7 and TWA 25, the K6 star HD 35650, and the G2 star HD 377. We obtained these images by reprocessing archival Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS coronagraph data with modern post-processing techniques as part of the Archival Legacy Investigation of Circumstellar Environments (ALICE) program. All four disks appear faint and compact compared with other debris disks resolved in scattered light. The disks around TWA 25, HD 35650, and HD 377 appear very inclined, while TWA 7's disk is viewed nearly face-on. The surface brightness of HD 35650's disk is strongly asymmetric. These new detections raise the number of disks resolved in scattered light around M and late-K stars from one (the AU Mic system) to four. This new sample of resolved disks enables comparative studies of heretofore scarce debris disks around low-mass stars relative to solar-type stars.