Born-Again Protoplanetary Disk around Mira B
Abstract
The Mira AB system is a nearby (~107 pc) example of a wind accreting binary star system. In this class of system, the wind from a mass-losing red giant star (Mira A) is accreted onto a companion (Mira B), as indicated by an accretion shock signature in spectra at ultraviolet and X-ray wavelengths. Using novel imaging techniques, we report the detection of emission at mid-infrared wavelengths between 9.7 and 18.3 μm from the vicinity of Mira B but with a peak at a radial position about 10 AU closer to the primary Mira A. We interpret the mid-infrared emission as the edge of an optically-thick accretion disk heated by Mira A. The discovery of this new class of accretion disk fed by M-giant mass loss implies a potential population of young planetary systems in white dwarf binaries, which has been little explored despite being relatively common in the solar neighborhood.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- June 2007
- DOI:
- 10.1086/517993
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/0703244
- Bibcode:
- 2007ApJ...662..651I
- Keywords:
-
- Stars: Binaries: Symbiotic;
- Stars: AGB and Post-AGB;
- Stars: Individual: Name: Mira AB;
- Stars: Winds;
- Outflows;
- Techniques: Interferometric;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- Accepted for ApJ