Active asteroid belt causes the UXOR phenomenon in RZ Piscium
Abstract
We report the discovery of mid-infrared excess emission in the young object RZ Psc. The excess constitutes ~8% of its Lbol and is well fit by a single 500 K blackbody, implying a dust-free region within ~0.7 AU for optically thick dust. The object displays dust obscuration events (UXOR behaviour) on a time scale that suggests dusty material on orbits of ~0.5 AU. We also report a 12.4-year cyclical photometric variability that can be interpreted as caused by perturbations in the dust distribution. The system is characterized by a high inclination, marginal extinction (during bright photometric states), a single temperature for the warm dust, and an age estimate that puts the star beyond the formation stage. We propose that the dust occultation events present a dynamical view of an active asteroid belt whose collisional products sporadically obscure the central star.
- Publication:
-
Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Pub Date:
- May 2013
- DOI:
- 10.1051/0004-6361/201220715
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1303.4138
- Bibcode:
- 2013A&A...553L...1D
- Keywords:
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- stars: variables: T Tauri;
- Herbig Ae/Be;
- techniques: photometric;
- planet-disk interactions;
- stars: late-type;
- stars: individual: RZ Psc;
- Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- Accepted for A&