Extreme Variability of the V488 Persei Debris Disk

TL;DR

V488 Persei hosts an extremely variable debris disk caused by large planetesimal collisions, indicating a transient phase possibly linked to planetary system reconfiguration, with high dust production and rapid destruction rates.

Contribution

This study reveals the extreme variability of V488 Persei's debris disk and links it to large planetesimal collisions influenced by a planetary or brown dwarf companion.

Findings

Infrared variability similar to ID8 in NGC 2547

High planetesimal destruction rate (~1000-10000 years)

Potential planetary system realignment evidence

Abstract

V488 Persei is the most extreme debris disk known in terms of the fraction of the stellar luminosity it intercepts and reradiates. The infrared output of its disk is extremely variable, similar in this respect to the most variable disk known previously, that around ID8 in NGC 2547. We show that the variations are likely to be due to collisions of large planetesimals (> 100 km in diameter) in a belt being stirred gravitationally by a planetary or low-mass-brown-dwarf member of a planetary system around the star. The dust being produced by the resulting collisions is falling into the star due to drag by the stellar wind. The indicated planetesimal destruction rate is so high that it is unlikely that the current level of activity can persist for much longer than ~ 1000 - 10,000 years, and it may signal a major realignment of the configuration of the planetary system.