ALMA and VLA Observations of the HD 141569 System

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution VLA and ALMA observations to analyze the HD 141569 system, revealing a variable central source, steep dust spectral index, and stellar variability, challenging previous interpretations of the system's dust and stellar emission.

Contribution

First high-resolution VLA 9 mm observations of HD 141569 revealing variability and refined dust properties, combined with archival ALMA data for comprehensive analysis.

Findings

Detected a variable point source at HD 141569A's location.

Found the dust spectral index to be steeper than previously thought.

Observed significant variability in the M dwarf companions.

Abstract

We present VLA 9 mm (33 GHz) observations of the HD 141569 system from semester 16A. The observations achieve a resolution of 0.25 arcsec ($\sim28$ au) and a sensitivity of $4.7~\mu \rm Jy~beam^{-1}$. We find (1) a $52\pm 5~\mu$Jy point source at the location of HD 141569A that shows potential variability, (2) the detected flux is contained within the SED-inferred central clearing of the disc meaning the spectral index of the dust disc is steeper than previously inferred, and (3) the M dwarf companions are also detected and variable. Previous lower-resolution VLA observations (semester 14A) found a higher flux density, interpreted as solely dust emission. When combined with ALMA observations, the VLA 14A observations suggested the spectral index and grain size distribution of HD 141569's disc was shallow and an outlier among debris systems. Using archival ALMA observations of HD 141569 at 0.87 mm and 2.9 mm we find a dust spectral index of $\alpha_{\rm mm} = 1.81\pm 0.20$. The VLA 16A flux corresponds to a brightness temperature of $\sim5\times10^{6}$ K, suggesting strong non-disc emission is affecting the inferred grain properties. The VLA 16A flux density of the M2V companion HD 141569B is $149\pm9~\mu$Jy, corresponding to a brightness temperature of $\sim2\times10^{8}$ K and suggesting significant stellar variability when compared to the VLA14A observations, which are smaller by a factor of $\sim6$.