Thermal Infrared Constraint to a Planetary Companion of Vega with the MMT Adaptive Optics System

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dc.creatorHinz, Philip M.
dc.creatorHeinze, A. N.
dc.creatorSivanandam, Suresh
dc.creatorMiller, Douglas L.
dc.creatorKenworthy, Matthew A.
dc.creatorBrusa, Guido
dc.creatorFreed, Melanie
dc.creatorAngel, J. R. P.
dc.date2006-06-06
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T10:39:13Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T10:39:13Z
dc.descriptionVega may have a massive companion in a wide orbit, as evidenced by structure in its cold dust debris. We have tested this hypothesis by direct imaging with adaptive optics in the M band. The observations were made with a newly commissioned thermal infrared camera, Clio, on the 6.5 MMT AO system with low-background deformable secondary. The observations constrain a planet to be less than 7 M$_J$ at the approximate position angle expected from the dust structure and at a radius $>$ 20AU (2.5 arcsec) . This result is more stringent than similar previous near-infrared observations of Vega, that achieve limits of 20 and 10 M$_J$ at separations of 7 arcsec. The higher sensitivity is due both to the more favorable contrast of gas giant planets at M band and to the higher Strehl and more stable point spread function at longer wavelengths. Future L' or M band observations could provide a powerful approach for wide separation planet detection, especially for cooler, and thus older or less massive planets. The natural best targets are nearby stars where planets in the range of 5-15 M$_J$ and as old as several Gyr are expected to be detectable with this technique.
dc.descriptionaccepted to ApJ June 6, 2006
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0606129
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0606129
dc.identifierAstrophys.J.653:1486-1492,2006
dc.identifierdoi:10.1086/506581
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/180952
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.titleThermal Infrared Constraint to a Planetary Companion of Vega with the MMT Adaptive Optics System
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