The Inner Disk Structure, Disk-Planet Interactions, and Temporal Evolution in the Beta Pictoris System: A Two-Epoch HST/STIS Coronagraphic Study

Abstract

We present deep HST/STIS coronagraphic images of the Beta Pic debris disk obtained at two epochs separated by 15 years. The new images and the re-reduction of the 1997 data provide the most sensitive and detailed views of the disk at optical wavelengths as well as the yet smallest inner working angle optical coronagraphic image of the disk. Our observations characterize the large-scale and inner-disk asymmetries and we identify multiple breaks in the disk radial surface brightness profile. We study in detail the radial and vertical disk structure and show that the disk is warped. We explore the disk at the location of the Beta Pic b super-jupiter and find that the disk surface brightness slope is continuous between 0.5 and 2.0 arcsec, arguing for no change at the separations where Beta Pic b orbits. The two epoch images constrain the disk surface brightness evolution on orbital and radiation pressure blow-out timescales. We place an upper limit of 3% on the disk surface brightness change between 3-5 arcsec, including the locations of the disk warp, and the CO and dust clumps. We discuss the new observations in the context of high-resolution multi-wavelength images and divide the disk asymmetries in two groups: axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric. The axisymmetric structures (warp, large-scale butterfly, etc.) are consistent with disk structure models that include interactions of a planetesimal belt and a non-coplanar giant planet. The non-axisymmetric features, however, require a different explanation.

Astrophysical Journal, in press; 70 pages; 21 figures

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Cited by in corpus (15)

• Exocometary gas structure, origin and physical properties around $\beta$ Pictoris through ALMA CO multi-transition observations
• Kuiper Belt-Like Hot and Cold Populations of Planetesimal Inclinations in the $\beta$ Pictoris Belt Revealed by ALMA
• Transiting exocomets detected in broadband light by TESS in the $\beta$ Pictoris system
• A Model-Independent Mass and Moderate Eccentricity for $\beta$ Pic b
• The Gemini Planet Imager Exoplanet Survey: Dynamical Mass of the Exoplanet beta Pictoris b from Combined Direct Imaging and Astrometry
• Exocomets size distribution in the $\beta$ Pictoris planetary system
• High resolution ALMA and HST images of q${}^1$ Eri: an asymmetric debris disc with an eccentric Jupiter
• New debris disks in nearby young moving groups
• Redshifted X-rays from the material accreting onto TW Hya: evidence of a low-latitude accretion spot
• On the cavity of a debris disc carved by a giant planet
• Extrasolar Kuiper Belts
• An Integrated Analysis with Predictions on the Architecture of the tau Ceti Planetary System, Including a Habitable Zone Planet
• bRing: An observatory dedicated to monitoring the $\beta$ Pictoris b Hill sphere transit
• Polarization from Aligned Dust Grains in the $\beta$ Pic Debris Disk
• 94 Ceti: a triple star with a planet and dust disc