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

Abstract

We present and analyze a new M' detection of the young exoplanet beta Pictoris b from 2008 VLT/NaCo data at a separation of ~ 4 AU and a high signal-to-noise rereduction of L' data taken in December 2009. Based on our orbital analysis, the planet's orbit is viewed almost perfectly edge-on (i ~ 89 degrees) and has a Saturn-like semimajor axis of 9.50 (+3.93, -1.7) AU. Intriguingly, the planet's orbit is aligned with the major axis of the outer disk (Omega ~ 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.

6 pages, 4 figures, 1 table; accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters

References in corpus (10)

• Direct Imaging of Multiple Planets Orbiting the Star HR 8799
• Optical Images of an Exosolar Planet 25 Light Years from Earth
• The Disk Around CoKu Tau/4: Circumbinary, not Transitional
• HST/ACS Multiband Coronagraphic Imaging of the Debris Disk around Beta Pictoris
• Discovery of an 86 AU Radius Debris Ring Around HD 181327
• Estimates of the Planet Yield from Ground-Based High-Contrast Imaging Observations as a Function of Stellar Mass
• A Possible Icy Kuiper Belt around HD 181327
• Thermal Infrared Constraint to a Planetary Companion of Vega with the MMT Adaptive Optics System
• VLT/NACO astrometry of the HR8799 planetary system. L'-band observations of the three outer planets
• VLT/NACO coronagraphic observations of fine structures in the disk of beta Pictoris

Cited by in corpus (45)

• The Hawaii Infrared Parallax Program. I. Ultracool Binaries and the L/T Transition
• Imaging Extrasolar Giant Planets
• LkCa 15: A Young Exoplanet Caught at Formation?
• Spiral Arms in the Asymmetrically Illuminated Disk of MWC 758 and Constraints on Giant Planets
• The Gemini NICI Planet-Finding Campaign: The Frequency of Planets around Young Moving Group Stars
• Orbital characterization of the βPictoris b giant planet
• Calibration of quasi-static aberrations in exoplanet direct-imaging instruments with a Zernike phase-mask sensor
• First light of the VLT planet finder SPHERE. IV. Physical and chemical properties of the planets around HR8799
• Direct Imaging Confirmation and Characterization of a Dust-Enshrouded Candidate Exoplanet Orbiting Fomalhaut
• $\beta$ Pictoris' inner disk in polarized light and new orbital parameters for $\beta$ Pictoris b
• A Combined VLT and Gemini Study of the Atmosphere of the Directly-Imaged Planet, beta Pictoris b
• The near-infrared spectral energy distribution of β Pictoris b
• beta Pic b position relative to the Debris Disk
• The Dynamical Mass and Three-Dimensional Orbit of HR7672B: A Benchmark Brown Dwarf with High Eccentricity
• Re-examining the membership and origin of the Epsilon Cha association
• On the misalignment of the directly imaged planet β Pictoris b with the system's warped inner disk
• Images of the Extended Outer Regions of the Debris Ring Around HR 4796 A
• Modeling Self-Subtraction in Angular Differential Imaging: Application to the HD 32297 Debris Disk
• Magellan Adaptive Optics first-light observations of the exoplanet $\beta$ Pic b. I. Direct imaging in the far-red optical with MagAO+VisAO and in the near-IR with NICI
• Deep Thermal Infrared Imaging of HR 8799 bcde: New Atmospheric Constraints and Limits on a Fifth Planet
• PynPoint: a modular pipeline architecture for processing and analysis of high-contrast imaging data
• Precise Dynamical Masses and Orbital Fits for $\beta$ Pic b and $\beta$ Pic c
• Direct Detection and Orbit Analysis of the Exoplanets HR 8799 bcd from Archival 2005 Keck/NIRC2 Data
• Gap Clearing by Planets in a Collisional Debris Disk
• Secondary eclipse observations for seven hot-Jupiters from the Anglo-Australian Telescope
• The Gemini Planet Imager Exoplanet Survey: Dynamical Mass of the Exoplanet beta Pictoris b from Combined Direct Imaging and Astrometry
• An insight in the surroundings of HR4796
• The TRENDS High-Contrast Imaging Survey. III. A Faint White Dwarf Companion Orbiting HD 114174
• The Gemini NICI Planet-Finding Campaign: The Orbit of the Young Exoplanet beta Pictoris b
• A SMACK Model of Colliding Planetesimals in the $\beta$ Pictoris Debris Disk
• Resolved Millimeter-Wavelength Observations of Debris Disks around Solar-Type Stars
• The Orbital Eccentricities of Directly Imaged Companions Using Observable-Based Priors: Implications for Population-level Distributions
• Keck/NIRC2 Imaging of the Warped, Asymmetric Debris Disk around HD 32297
• Spin-orbit alignment of the $\beta$ Pictoris planetary system
• Star - Planet - Debris Disk Alignment in the HD 82943 system: Is planetary system coplanarity actually the norm?
• Completeness of Imaging Surveys for Eccentric Exoplanets
• Density waves in debris discs and galactic nuclei
• The orbit of Beta Pic b as a transiting planet
• A Deep Keck/NIRC2 Search for Thermal Emission from Planetary Companions Orbiting Fomalhaut
• JWST-TST High Contrast: JWST/NIRCam observations of the young giant planet $\beta$ Pic b
• Characterising exo-ringsystems around fast-rotating stars using the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect
• The vertical structure of debris discs and the role of disc gravity: A primer using a simplified model
• Dynamical Mass Estimates of the $\beta$ Pictoris Planetary System Through Gaussian Process Stellar Activity Modelling
• Formation of the warped debris disc around $\beta$ Pictoris
• Direct Imaging Discovery of Giant Exoplanet $\beta$ Pictoris d: A Decade-Long Game of Hide-and-Seek