Engineering topics

Currie, Thayne

Publications and source records attributed to Currie, Thayne.

34 records · Page 2

NASA NTRS2013

Direct Imaging Search for Extrasolar Planets in the Pleiades

We carried out an imaging survey for extrasolar planets around stars in the Pleiades (125 Myr, 135 pc) in the H and K(sub S) bands using HiCIAO combined with adaptive optics, AO188, on the Subaru telescope. We found 13 companion candidates fainter than 14.5 mag in the H band around 9 stars. Five of these 13 were confirmed to be background stars by measurement of their proper motion. One was not found in the second epoch observation, and thus was not a background or companion object. One had multi-epoch images, but the precision of its proper motion was not sufficient to conclude whether it was a background object. Four other candidates are waiting for second-epoch observations to determine their proper motion. Finally, the remaining two were confirmed to be 60 M(sub J) brown dwarf companions orbiting around HD 23514 (G0) and HII 1348 (K5), respectively, as had been reported in previous studies. In our observations, the average detection limit for a point source was 20.3 mag in the H band beyond 1.′′ 5 from the central star. On the basis of this detection limit, we calculated the detection efficiency to be 90% for a planet with 6 to 12 Jovian masses and a semi-major axis of 50–1000 AU. For this reason we extrapolated the distribution of the planet mass and the semi-major axis derived from radial velocity observations, and adopted the planet evolution model Baraffe et al. (2003, A&A, 402, 701). Since there was no detection of a planet, we estimated the frequency of such planets to be less than 17.9% (2 sigma) around one star of the Pleiades cluster.

extrasolar planets↗

NASA NTRS2013

High-Contrast Near-Infrared Imaging Polarimetry of the Protoplanetary Disk around RY Tau

We present near-infrared coronagraphic imaging polarimetry of RY Tau. The scattered light in the circumstellar environment was imaged at H-band at a high resolution (approx. 0.05) for the first time, using Subaru-HiCIAO. The observed polarized intensity (PI) distribution shows a butterfly-like distribution of bright emission with an angular scale similar to the disk observed at millimeter wavelengths. This distribution is offset toward the blueshifted jet, indicating the presence of a geometrically thick disk or a remnant envelope, and therefore the earliest stage of the Class II evolutionary phase. We perform comparisons between the observed PI distribution and disk models with: (1) full radiative transfer code, using the spectral energy distribution (SED) to constrain the disk parameters; and (2) monochromatic simulations of scattered light which explore a wide range of parameters space to constrain the disk and dust parameters. We show that these models cannot consistently explain the observed PI distribution, SED, and the viewing angle inferred by millimeter interferometry. We suggest that the scattered light in the near-infrared is associated with an optically thin and geometrically thick layer above the disk surface, with the surface responsible for the infrared SED. Half of the scattered light and thermal radiation in this layer illuminates the disk surface, and this process may significantly affect the thermal structure of the disk.

protoplanetary disks↗

NASA NTRS2013

The SEEDS Direct Imaging Survey for Planets and Scattered Dust Emission in Debris Disk Systems

Debris disks around young main-sequence stars often have gaps and cavities which for a long time have been interpreted as possibly being caused by planets. In recent years, several giant planet discoveries have been made in systems hosting disks of precisely this nature, further implying that interactions with planets could be a common cause of such disk structures. As part of the SEEDS high-contrast imaging survey, we are surveying a population of debris disk-hosting stars with gaps and cavities implied by their spectral energy distributions, in order to attempt to spatially resolve the disk as well as to detect any planets that may be responsible for the disk structure. Here we report on intermediate results from this survey. Five debris disks have been spatially resolved, and a number of faint point sources have been discovered, most of which have been tested for common proper motion, which in each case has excluded physical companionship with the target stars. From the detection limits of the 50 targets that have been observed, we find that beta Pic b-like planets (approximately 10M(sub jup) planets around G-A-type stars) near the gap edges are less frequent than 15-30%, implying that if giant planets are the dominant cause of these wide (27 AU on average) gaps, they are generally less massive than beta Pic b.

high-contrast imaging↗

NASA NTRS2013

SCExAO: First Results and On-Sky Performance

We present new on-sky results for the Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics imager (SCExAO) verifying and quantifying the contrast gain enabled by key components: the closed-loop coronagraphic low-order wavefront sensor (CLOWFS) and focal plane wavefront control ("speckle nulling"). SCExAO will soon be coupled with a high-order, Pyramid wavefront sensor which will yield greater than 90% Strehl ratio and enable 10(exp 6) -10(exp 7) contrast at small angular separations allowing us to image gas giant planets at solar system scales. Upcoming instruments like VAMPIRES, FIRST, and CHARIS will expand SCExAO's science capabilities.

Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics image↗

NASA NTRS2013

Mapping H-band Scattered Light Emission in the Mysterious SR21Transitional Disk

We present the first near infrared (NIR) spatially resolved images of the circumstellar transitional disk around SR21. These images were obtained with the Subaru HiCIAO camera, adaptive optics, and the polarized differential imaging technique. We resolve the disk in scattered light at H-band for stellocentric 0.1 < or approx. r < or approx. 0.6 (12 < or approx. r < or approx. 75AU). We compare our results with previously published spatially resolved 880 micron continuum Submillimeter Array images that show an inner r < or approx. 36AU cavity in SR21. Radiative transfer models reveal that the large disk depletion factor invoked to explain SR21's sub-mm cavity cannot be "universal" for all grain sizes. Even significantly more moderate depletions (delta = 0.1, 0.01 relative to an undepleted disk) than those that reproduce the sub-mm cavity (delta approx. 10(exp −6) are inconsistent with our H-band images when they are assumed to carry over to small grains, suggesting that surface grains scattering in the NIR either survive or are generated by whatever mechanism is clearing the disk midplane. In fact, the radial polarized intensity profile of our H-band observations is smooth and steeply inwardly-increasing (r(sup −3), with no evidence of a break at the 36AU sub-mm cavity wall. We hypothesize that this profile is dominated by an optically thin disk envelope or atmosphere component.We also discuss the compatibility of our data with the previously postulated existence of a sub-stellar companion to SR21 at r approx. 10-20AU, and find that we can neither exclude nor verify this scenario. This study demonstrates the power of multiwavelength imaging of transitional disks to inform modeling efforts, including the debate over precisely what physical mechanism is responsible for clearing these disks of their large midplane grains.

SR21↗

NASA NTRS2012

Keck/NIRC2 Imaging of the Warped, Asymmetric Debris Disk Around HD 32297

We present Keck/NIRC2 Ks band high-contrast coronagraphic imaging of the luminous debris disk around the nearby, young A star HD 32297 resolved at a projected separation of r = 0.3-2.5 arcse (approx 35-280 AU). The disk is highly warped to the north and exhibits a complex, "wavy" surface brightness profile interior to r approx 110 AU, where the peaks/plateaus in the profiles are shifted between the NE and SW disk lobes. The SW side of the disk is 50 - 100% brighter at r = 35 - 80 AU, and the location of its peak brightness roughly coincides with the disk's mm emission peak. Spectral energy distribution modeling suggests that HD 32297 has at least two dust populations that may originate from two separate belts likely at different locations, possibly at distances coinciding with the surface brightness peaks. A disk model for a single dust belt including a phase function with two components and a 5-10 AU pericenter offset explains the disk's warped structure and reproduces some of the surface brightness profile's shape (e.g. the overall "wavy" profile, the SB peak/plateau shifts) but more poorly reproduces the disk's brightness asymmetry. Although there may be alternate explanations, agreement between the SW disk brightness peak and disk's peak mm emission is consistent with an overdensity of very small, sub-blowout-sized dust and large, 0.1-1 mm-sized grains at approx 45 AU tracing the same parent population of planetesimals. New near-IR and submm observations may be able to clarify whether even more complex grain scattering properties or dynamical sculpting by an unseen planet are required to explain HD 32297's disk structure.

Currie, Thayne↗

NASA NTRS2012

The Gray Needle: Large Grains in the HD 15115 Debris Disk from LBT*/PISCES/K s and LBTIi+/LMIRcam/L(prime) Adaptive Optics Imaging

We present diffraction-limited K s band and L(prime) adaptive optics images of the edge-on debris disk around the nearby F2 star HD 15115, obtained with a single 8.4 m primary mirror at the Large Binocular Telescope. At the Ks band, the disk is detected at signal-to-noise per resolution element (SNRE) approx. 3-8 from approx. 1 to 2".5 (45-113 AU) on the western side and from approx. 1". 2 to 2".1 (63-90 AU) on the east. At L the disk is detected at SNRE approx. 2.5 from approx. 1 to 1".45 (45-90 AU) on both sides, implying more symmetric disk structure at 3.8 micrometers. At both wavelengths the disk has a bow-like shape and is offset from the star to the north by a few AU. A surface brightness asymmetry exists between the two sides of the disk at the Ks band, but not at L(prime). The surface brightness at the K s band declines inside 1"(approx. 45 AU), which may be indicative of a gap in the disk near 1".The K s − L(prime) disk color, after removal of the stellar color, is mostly gray for both sides of the disk. This suggests that scattered light is coming from large dust grains, with 3-10 micrometers sized grains on the east side and 1-10 micrometers dust grains on the west. This may suggest that the west side is composed of smaller dust grains than the east side, which would support the interpretation that the disk is being dynamically affected by interactions with the local interstellar medium.

signal-to-noise↗

NASA NTRS2012

Baby Solar System

What did our solar system look like in its infancy,...... when the planets were forming? We cannot travel back in time to take an image of the early solar system, but in principle we can have the next best thing: images of infant planetary systems around Sun-like stars with ages of 1 to 5 million years, the time we think it took for the giant planets to form. Infant exoplanetary systems are critically important because they can help us understand how our solar system fits within the context of planet formation in general. More than 80% of stars are born with gas- and dust-rich disks, and thus have the potential to form planets. Through many methods we have identified more than 760 planetary systems around middle-aged stars like the Sun, but many of these have architectures that look nothing like our solar system. Young planetary systems are important missing links between various endpoints and may help us understand how and when these differences emerge. Well-known star-forming regions in Taurus, Scorpius. and Orion contain stars that could have infant planetary systems. But these stars are much more distant than our nearest neighbors such as Alpha Centauri or Sirius, making it extremely challenging to produce clear images of systems that can reveal signs of recent planet formation, let alone reveal the planets themselves. Recently, a star with the unassuming name LkCa 15 may have given us our first detailed "baby picture" of a young planetary system similar to our solar system. Located about 450 light-years away in the Taurus starforming region. LkCa 15 has a mass comparable to the Sun (0.97 solar mass) and an age of l to 5 million years, comparable to the time at which Saturn and perhaps Jupiter formed. The star is surrounded by a gas-rich disk similar in structure to the one in our solar system from which the planets formed. With new technologies and observing strategies, we have confirmed suspicions that LkCa 15's disk harbors a young planetary system.

Currie, Thayne↗

NASA NTRS2012

Direct Detection and Orbit Analysis of the Exoplanets HR 8799 bcd from Archival 2005 Keck/NIRC2 Data

We present previously unpublished July 2005 H-band coronagraphic data of the young, planet-hosting star HR 8799 from the newly-released Keck/NIRC2 archive. Despite poor observing conditions, we detect three of the planets (HR 8799 bcd), two of them (HR 8799 bc) without advanced image processing. Comparing these data with previously published 1998-2011 astrometry and that from re-reduced October 2010 Keck data constrains the orbits of the planets. Analyzing the planets' astrometry separately, HR 8799 d's orbit is likely inclined at least 25 deg from face-on and the others may be on in inclined orbits. For semimajor axis ratios consistent with a 4:2:1 mean-motion resonance our analysis yields precise values for HR 8799 bcd's orbital parameters and strictly constrains the planets' eccentricities to be less than 0.18-0.3. However, we find no acceptable orbital solutions with this resonance that place the planets in face-on orbits; HR 8799 d shows the largest deviation from such orbits. Moreover, few orbits make HR 8799 d coplanar with b and c, whereas dynamical stability analyses used to constrain the planets' masses typically assume coplanar and/or fare.on orbits. This paper illustrates the significant science gain enabled with the release of the NIRC2 archive.

Currie, Thayne↗

NASA NTRS2012

Keck/NIRC2 Imaging of the Warped, Asymmetric Debris Disk Around HD 32297

We present Keck/NIRC2 K(sub s) band high-contrast coronagraphic imaging of the luminous debris disk around the nearby, young A star HD 32297 resolved at a projected separation of r = 0.3 - 2.5" (approx equals 35 - 280 AU). The disk is highly warped to the north and exhibits a complex, "wavy" surface brightness profile interior to r approx equals 110 AU, where the peaks/plateaus in the profiles are shifted between the NE and SW disk lobes. The SW side of the disk is 50 - 100% brighter at r = 35 - 80 AU, and the location of its peak brightness roughly coincides with the disk's mm emission peak. Spectral energy distribution modeling suggests that HD 32297 has at least two dust populations that may originate from two separate belts likely at different locations, possibly at distances coinciding with the surface brightness peaks. A disk model fur a single dust belt including a phase function with two components and a 5 - 10 AU pericenter offset explains the disk's warped structure and reproduces some of the surface brightness profile's shape (e.g. the overall "wavy" profile, the SB peak/plateau shifts) but more poorly reproduces the disk's brightness asymmetry and the profile at wider separations (r > 110 AU). Although there may be a1ternate explanations, agreement between the SW disk brightness peak and disk's peak rom emission is consistent with an overdensity of very small, sub-blowout-sized dust and large, 0.1 - 1 mm-sized grains at approx equal 45 AU tracing the same parent population of planetesimals. New near-IR and submm observations may be able to clarify whether even more complex grain scattering properties or dynamical sculpting by an unseen planet are required to explain HD 32297's disk structure.

Currie, Thayne↗

NASA NTRS2012

Dust Attenuation and H(alpha) Star Formation Rates of Z Approx. 0.5 Galaxies

Using deep narrow-band and broad-band imaging, we identify 401 z approximately 0.40 and 249 z approximately 0.49 H-alpha line-emitting galaxies in the Subaru Deep Field. Compared to other H-alpha surveys at similar redshifts, our samples are unique since they probe lower H-alpha luminosities, are augmented with multi-wavelength (rest-frame 1000AA--1.5 microns) coverage, and a large fraction (20%) of our samples has already been spectroscopically confirmed. Our spectra allow us to measure the Balmer decrement for nearly 60 galaxies with H-beta detected above 5-sigma. The Balmer decrements indicate an average extinction of A(H-alpha)=0.7(uparrow){+1.4}_{-0.7} mag. We find that the Balmer decrement systematically increases with higher H-alpha luminosities and with larger stellar masses, in agreement with previous studies with sparser samples. We find that the SFRs estimated from modeling the spectral energy distribution (SED) is reliable---we derived an "intrinsic" H-alpha luminosity which is then reddened assuming the color excess from SED modeling. The SED-predicted H-alpha luminosity agrees with H-alpha narrow-band measurements over 3 dex (rms of 0.25 dex). We then use the SED SFRs to test different statistically-based dust corrections for H-alpha and find that adopting one magnitude of extinction is inappropriate: galaxies with lower luminosities are less reddened. We find that the luminosity-dependent dust correction of Hopkins et al. yields consistent results over 3 dex (rms of 0.3 dex). Our comparisons are only possible by assuming that stellar reddening is roughly half of nebular reddening. The strong correspondence argue that with SED modeling, we can derive reliable intrinsic SFRs even in the absence of H-alpha measurements at z approximately 0.5.

Ly, Chun↗

NASA NTRS2011

A 5 Micron of beta Pictoris B at a Sub-Jupiter Projected Separation: Evidence for a Misalignment Between the Planet and the Inner, Warped Disk

We present and analyze a new M' detection of the young exoplanet Beta Pictoris b from 2008 VLT/NaCo data at a separation of approx. = 4 AU and a high signal-to-noise rereduction of L' data taken in December 2Q09. Based on our orbital analysis, the planet's orbit is viewed almost perfectly edge-on (i approx. 89 degrees) and has a Saturn-like semimajor axis of 9.50AU(+3.93 AU)/-(1.7AU) . Intriguingly, the planet's orbit is aligned with the major axis of the outer disk (Omega approx.31 degrees) but probably misaligned with the warp/inclined disk at 80 AU often cited as a signpost for the planet's existence. Our results motivate new studies to clarify how Beta Pic b sculpts debris disk structures and whether a second planet is required to explain the warp/inclined disk

Currie, Thayne↗

NASA NTRS2011

A Combined Subaru/VLT/MMT 1-5 Micrometer Study of Planets Orbiting HR 8799: Implications For Atmospheric Properties, Masses and Formation

We present new 1-1.25 micron (z and J band) Subaru/IRCS and 2 micron (K band) VLT/NaCo data for HR 8799 and a rereduction of the 3-5 micron MMT/Clio data first presented by Hinz et al. Our VLT/NaCo data yield a detection of a fourth planet at a projected separation of approximately 15 AU--"HR 8799e ." We also report new, albeit weak detections of HR 8799b at 1.03 micron and 3.3 micron. Empirical comparisons to field brown dwarfs show that at least HR 8799b and HR 8799c, and possibly HR 8799d, have near-to-mid-IR colors/ magnitudes significantly discrepant from the L/T dwarf sequence. Standard cloud deck atmosphere models appropriate for brown dwarfs provide only (marginally) statistically meaningful fits to HR 8799b and c for unphysically small radii. Models with thicker cloud layers not present in brown dwarfs reproduce the planets' spectral energy distributions far more accurately and without the need for resealing the planets' radii. Our preliminary modeling suggests that HR 8799b has log(g) = 4-4.5, T(sub eff) = 900 K. while HR 8799c, d, and (by inference) e have log(g) = 4-4.5, T(sub eff) = 1000-1200 K. Combining results from planet evolution models and new dynamical stability limits implies that the masses of HR 8799b, c, d, and e are 6-7 M(sub j), 7-10 M(sub j), 7-10 M(sub j), and 7-10 M(sub j). "Patchy" cloud prescriptions may provide even better fits to the data and may lower the estimated surface gravities and masses. Finally, contrary to some recent claims, forming the HR 8799 planets by core accretion is still plausible, although such systems are likely rare.

Currie, Thayne↗

NASA NTRS2011

The Transitional Protoplanetary Disk Frequency as a Function of Age: Disk Evolution in the Coronet Cluster, Taurus, and Other 1--8 Myr-old Regions

We present Spitzer 3.6-24 micron photometry and spectroscopy for stars in the 1-3 Myr-old Coronet Cluster, expanding upon the survey of Sicilia-Aguilar et al. (2008). Using sophisticated radiative transfer models, we analyze these new data and those from Sicilia-Aguilar et al. (2008) to identify disks with evidence for substantial dust evolution consistent with disk clearing: transitional disks. We then analyze data in Taurus and others young clusters - IC 348, NGC 2362, and eta Cha -- to constrain the transitional disk frequency as a function of time. Our analysis confirms previous results finding evidence for two types of transitional disks -- those with inner holes and those that are homologously depleted. The percentage of disks in the transitional phase increases from approx.15-20% at 1-2 Myr to > 50% at 5-8 Myr; the mean transitional disk lifetime is closer to approx. 1 Myr than 0.1-0.5 Myr, consistent with previous studies by Currie et al. (2009) and Sicilia-Aguilar et al. (2009). In the Coronet Cluster and IC 348, transitional disks are more numerous for very low-mass M3--M6 stars than for more massive K5-M2 stars, while Taurus lacks a strong spectral type-dependent frequency. Assuming standard values for the gas-to-dust ratio and other disk properties, the lower limit for the masses of optically-thick primordial disks is Mdisk approx. 0.001-0.003 M*. We find that single color-color diagrams do not by themselves uniquely identify transitional disks or primordial disks. Full SED modeling is required to accurately assess disk evolution for individual sources and inform statistical estimates of the transitional disk population in large samples using mid-IR colors.

Currie, Thayne↗

NASA NTRS2011

Spitzer IRS Spectroscopy of the 10 Myr-Old EF Cha Debris Disk: Evidence for Phyllosilicate-Rich Dust in the Terrestrial Zone

We describe Spitzer IRS spectroscopic observations of the approx. 10 Myr-old star, EF Chao Compositional modeling of the spectra from 5 micron to 35 micron confirms that it is surrounded by a luminous debris disk with L(sub D)/L(sub *) approx. 10(exp -3), containing dust with temperatures between 225 K and 430 K characteristic of the terrestrial zone. The EF Cha spectrum shows evidence for many solid-state features, unlike most cold, low-luminosity debris disks but like some other 10-20 Myr-old luminous, warm debris disks (e.g. HD 113766A). The EF Cha debris disk is unusually rich in a species or combination of species whose emissivities resemble that of finely-powdered, laboratory-measured phyllosilicate species (talc, saponite, and smectite), which are likely produced by aqueous alteration of primordial anhydrous rocky materials. The dust and, by inference, the parent bodies of the debris also contain abundant amorphous silicates and metal sulfides, and possibly water ice. The dust's total olivine to pyroxene ratio of approx. 2 also provides evidence of aqueous alteration. The large mass volume of grains with sizes comparable to or below the radiation blow-out limit implies that planetesimals may be colliding at a rate high enough to yield the emitting dust but not so high as to devolatize the planetesimals via impact processing. Because phyllosilicates are produced by the interactions between anhydrous rock and warm, reactive water, EF Cha's disk is a likely signpost for water delivery to the terrestrial zone of a young planetary system.

Currie, Thayne↗

NASA NTRS2010

High-Contrast 3.8 Micron Imaging of the Brown Dwarf/Planet-Mass Companion to GJ 758

We present L' band (3.8 Micron) MMT/Clio high-contrast imaging data for the nearby star GJ 758, which was recently reported by Thalmann et al. (2009) to have one -- possibly two-- faint comoving companions (GJ 7588 and "C", respectively). GJ 758B is detected in two distinct datasets. Additionally, we report a \textit(possible) detection of the object identified by Thalmann et al as "GJ 758C" in our more sensitive dataset, though it is likely a residual speckle. However, if it is the same object as that reported by Thalmann et al. it cannot be a companion in a bound orbit. GJ 758B has a H-L'color redder than nearly all known L--T8 dwarfs. Based on comparisons with the COND evolutionary models, GJ 758B has Te approx. 560 K (+150 K, -90 K) and a mass ranging from approx. 10-20 Mj if it is approx. 1 Gyr old to approx. 25-40 Mj if it is 8.7 Gyr old. GJ 758B is likely in a highly eccentric orbit, e approx. 0.73 (+0.12,-0.21), with a semimajor axis of approx. 44 AU (+32 AU, -14 AU). Though GJ 758B is sometimes discussed within the context of exoplanet direct imaging, its mass is likely greater than the deuterium-burning limit and its formation may resemble that of binary stars rather than that of jovian-mass planets.

Currie, Thayne↗