Spitzer/IRAC Limits to Planetary Companions of Fomalhaut and epsilon Eridani

Abstract

Fomalhaut and epsilon Eridani are two young, nearby stars that possess extended debris disks whose structures suggest the presence of perturbing planetary objects. With its high sensitivity and stable point spread function, Spitzer/IRAC is uniquely capable of detecting cool, Jupiter-like planetary companions whose peak emission is predicted to occur near 4.5 um. We report on deep IRAC imaging of these two stars, taken at 3.6 and 4.5 um using subarray mode and in all four channels in wider-field full array mode. Observations acquired at two different telescope roll angles allowed faint surrounding objects to be separated from the stellar diffraction pattern. No companion candidates were detected at the reported position of Fomalhaut b with 3 sigma model-dependent mass upper limits of 3 MJ (for an age of 200 Myr). Around epsilon Eridani we instead set a limit of 4 and <1 MJ (1 Gyr model age) at the inner and outer edge of the sub-millimeter debris ring, respectively. These results are consistent with non-detections in recent near-infrared imaging searches, and set the strongest limits to date on the presence of planets outside epsilon Eridani sub-millimeter ring.

Accepted by The Astrophysical Journal. Request electronic-only plates to M. Marengo ([email protected])

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• The Northern Arc of $\epsilon$ Eridani's Debris Ring as Seen by ALMA
• High-contrast Imaging with Spitzer: Deep Observations of Vega, Fomalhaut, and epsilon Eridani
• New HST data and modeling reveal a massive planetesimal collision around Fomalhaut
• Fomalhaut b as a Dust Cloud: Frequent Collisions within the Fomalhaut Disk
• Fomalhaut b as a Cloud of Dust: Testing Aspects of Planet Formation Theory
• NEOSurvey 1: Initial results from the Warm Spitzer Exploration Science Survey of Near Earth Object Properties
• Fomalhaut b could be massive and sculpting the narrow, eccentric debris disc, if in mean-motion resonance with it
• MAMBO image of the debris disk around epsilon Eridani : robustness of the azimuthal structure
• The Prototypical Young L/T-Transition Dwarf HD 203030B Likely Has Planetary Mass
• Insights on the dynamical history of the Fomalhaut system - Investigating the Fom c hypothesis
• A Spitzer/IRAC Characterization of Galactic AGB and RSG Stars
• The companion candidate near Fomalhaut - a background neutron star?
• Infrared Absolute Calibration I: Comparison of Sirius with Fainter Calibration Stars
• Simulations of the Fomalhaut System Within Its Local Galactic Environment
• Hiding Dust Around $\epsilon$ Eridani
• Constraints on the gas content of the Fomalhaut debris belt. Can gas-dust interactions explain the belt's morphology?
• Accurate Photometry of Saturated Stars Using the Point-Spread-Function Wing Technique with Spitzer