Revisiting the ultraviolet spectroscopy of the eta Tel edge-on debris disk

TL;DR

This study reanalyzes ultraviolet spectra of the eta Tel debris disk, clarifying the origin of absorption features and constraining the gas composition, revealing a likely circumstellar component with a low C/O ratio.

Contribution

It distinguishes interstellar from circumstellar absorption components and provides the first upper limit on the C/O ratio in eta Tel's disk gas.

Findings

The -23 km/s component is interstellar in origin.

The -1 km/s component may be circumstellar.

The C/O ratio is consistent with solar system comets but not with carbon-rich disks.

Abstract

We revisit the ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy of the edge-on debris disk surrounding the A0V star $\eta$ Telescopii. Previous work found absorption components at four velocities ($\sim$ -23, -18, -10, -1 km s$^{-1}$), with the most blueshifted component (-23 km s$^{-1}$) interpreted as a likely disk wind. However, optical spectroscopy of $\eta$ Tel and other nearby stars in projection demonstrate that the -23 km s$^{-1}$ component is likely interstellar in origin. We find that there are three interstellar components toward this sight line (-23, -18, -10 km s$^{-1}$), but that the fourth component near -1 km s$^{-1}$, which was only detected in O I, is inconsistent with an interstellar origin and could be circumstellar. We place a 3-$\sigma$ upper limit on the C/O ratio of the -1 km s$^{-1}$ gas (log C/O $<$ -2.1), finding that it is consistent with Earth and solar system comet abundances. However, the abundance is inconsistent with the carbon-rich disks of $\beta$ Pic (A5V) and 49 Cet (A1V), probably because $\eta$ Tel (A0V) is a warmer star imposing greater levels of radiation pressure on carbon atoms in the disk. A low C/O ratio is also inconsistent with Herschel's [CII] detection toward $\eta$ Tel and may indicate that carbon gas is misaligned from the line of sight or variable in time.