Deep Keck adaptive optics searches for extrasolar planets in the dust of Epsilon Eridani and Vega

Abstract

A significant population of nearby stars have strong far-infrared excesses, now known to be due to circumstellar dust in regions analogous to the Kuiper Belt of our solar system, though orders of magnitude more dense. Recent sub-mm and mm imaging of these systems resolves the circumstellar dust and reveals complex structures, often in the form of rings with azimuthal non-axisymmetric variations. This structure might well be due to the presence of embedded brown dwarfs or planets. We have carried out deep adaptive optics imaging of two nearby stars with such asymmetric dust: Epsilon Eridani and Vega. Ten and seven candidate companions were seen in and near the dust rings of Epsilon Eridani and Vega respectively, but second-epoch proper motion measurements indicate that all are background objects. Around these two stars we can thus exclude planetary companions at spatial scales comparable to the radius of the dust structures to a level of MK=24, corresponding to 5 Jupiter masses, for Epsilon Eridani, and MK=19-21, corresponding to 6-8 Jupiter masses, for Vega.

submitted to Astrophysical Journal

References in corpus (9)

• A Non-Gray Theory of Extrasolar Giant Planets and Brown Dwarfs
• A dust ring around Epsilon Eridani: analogue to the young Solar System
• Evidence for a Long-period Planet Orbiting Epsilon Eridani
• Structure in the Dusty Debris around Vega
• The Geometry of Resonant Signatures in Debris Disks with Planets
• Ages of A-type Vega-like stars from uvby$\beta$ Photometry
• Millimeter-Wave Aperture Synthesis Imaging of Vega: Evidence for a Ring Arc at 95 AU
• Ages of late spectral type Vega-like stars
• Adaptive Optics Observations of Vega: Eight Detected Sources and Upper Limits to Planetary-Mass Companions

Cited by in corpus (28)

• Angular Differential Imaging: a Powerful High-Contrast Imaging Technique
• A new algorithm for point spread function subtraction in high-contrast imaging: a demonstration with angular differential imaging
• Imaging Extrasolar Giant Planets
• The Extrasolar Planet epsilon Eridani b - Orbit and Mass
• Circumstellar material in the Vega inner system revealed by CHARA/FLUOR
• Dusty Debris Disks as Signposts of Planets: Implications for SIRTF
• Temporal Evolution of Coronagraphic Dynamic Range, and Constraints on Companions to Vega
• High-contrast Imaging Search for Planets and Brown Dwarfs around the Most Massive Stars in the Solar Neighborhood
• Collisional Grooming Models of the Kuiper Belt Dust Cloud
• Four new wide binaries among exoplanet host stars
• Nulling interferometry: impact of exozodiacal clouds on the performance of future life-finding space missions
• Spitzer/IRAC Limits to Planetary Companions of Fomalhaut and epsilon Eridani
• High-contrast Imaging with Spitzer: Deep Observations of Vega, Fomalhaut, and epsilon Eridani
• Direct Detection of the Brown Dwarf GJ 802B with Adaptive Optics Masking Interferometry
• A comprehensive examination of the Eps Eri system -- Verification of a 4 micron narrow-band high-contrast imaging approach for planet searches
• A Spitzer/IRAC Search for Substellar Companions of the Debris Disk Star epsilon Eridani
• Thermal Infrared Constraint to a Planetary Companion of Vega with the MMT Adaptive Optics System
• NACO-SDI direct imaging search for the exoplanet Eps Eri b
• High contrast imaging at 10 microns, a search for exoplanets around: Eps Indi A, Eps Eri, Tau Ceti, Sirius A and Sirius B
• Planetary Migration to Large Radii
• Detecting a rotation in the epsilon Eridani debris disc
• Coronagraphic Search for Extra-Solar Planets around epsilon Eri and Vega
• Adaptive Optics Nulling Interferometric Constraints on the Mid-Infrared Exozodiacal Dust Emission around Vega
• Limits on the Optical Brightness of the Epsilon Eridani Dust Ring
• On-Sky Demonstration of a Linear Band-limited Mask with Application to Visual Binary Stars
• A coronagraphic search for wide sub-stellar companions among members of the Ursa Major moving group
• A deep search for planets in the inner 15 au around Vega
• Deep imaging survey of the environment of Alpha Centauri - I. Adaptive optics imaging of Alpha Cen B with VLT-NACO