Sirius B Imaged in the Mid-Infrared: No Evidence for a Remnant Planetary System

Abstract

Evidence is building that remnants of solar systems might orbit a large percentage of white dwarfs, as the polluted atmospheres of DAZ and DBZ white dwarfs indicate the very recent accretion of metal-rich material. (Zuckerman et al. 2010). Some of these polluted white dwarfs are found to have large mid-infrared excesses from close-in debris disks that are thought to be reservoirs for the metal accretion. These systems are coined DAZd white dwarfs (von Hippel et al. 2007). Here we investigate the claims of Bonnet-Bidaud & Pantin (2008) that Sirius B, the nearest white dwarf to the Sun, might have an infrared excess from a dusty debris disk. Sirius B's companion, Sirius A is commonly observed as a mid-infrared photometric standard in the Southern hemisphere. We combine several years of Gemini/T-ReCS photometric standard observations to produce deep mid-infrared imaging in five ~10 micron filters (broad N + 4 narrowband), which reveal the presence of Sirius B. Our photometry is consistent with the expected photospheric emission such that we constrain any mid-infrared excess to <10% of the photosphere. Thus we conclude that Sirius B does not have a large dusty disk, as seen in DAZd white dwarfs.

13 pages, 3 figures, accepted to ApJ

References in corpus (6)

• A gaseous metal disk around a white dwarf
• Ancient planetary systems are orbiting a large fraction of white dwarf stars
• Pollution of single white dwarfs by accretion of many small asteroids
• The accretion-diffusion scenario for metals in cool white dwarfs
• A Spitzer White Dwarf Infrared Survey
• ADONIS high contrast infrared imaging of Sirius-B

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