HD 106906: A Case Study for External Perturbations of a Debris Disk

Abstract

Models of debris disk morphology are often focused on the effects of a planet orbiting interior to or within the disk. Nonetheless, an exterior planetary-mass perturber can also excite eccentricities in a debris disk, via Laplace-Lagrange secular perturbations in the coplanar case or Kozai-Lidov perturbations for mutually inclined companions and disks. HD 106906 is an ideal example of such a system, as it harbors a confirmed exterior 11 M_Jup companion at a projected separation of 650 au outside a resolved, asymmetric disk. We use collisional and dynamical simulations to investigate the interactions between the disk and the companion, and to use the disk's observed morphology to place constraints on the companion's orbit. We conclude that the disk's observed morphology is consistent with perturbations from the observed exterior companion. Generalizing this result, we suggest that exterior perturbers, as well as interior planets, should be considered when investigating the cause of observed asymmetries in a debris disk.

14 pages, 4 figures, accepted to ApJ Letters

References in corpus (4)

• Probing for Exoplanets Hiding in Dusty Debris Disks: Disk Imaging, Characterization, and Exploration with HST/STIS Multi-Roll Coronagraphy
• Gap Clearing by Planets in a Collisional Debris Disk
• Apocenter glow in eccentric debris disks: implications for Fomalhaut and epsilon Eridani
• Resolved Millimeter Emission from the HD 15115 Debris Disk

Cited by in corpus (4)

• A Near-coplanar Stellar Flyby of the Planet Host Star HD 106906
• Investigation of the asteroid-neutron star collision model for the repeating fast radio bursts
• High signal-to-noise spectral characterization of the planetary-mass object HD 106906 b
• Giant Planets Can Act As Stabilizing Agents on Debris Disks