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<\/p>\nAt the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) on Jan. 11, three teams presented research that utilized the capabilities of NASA\u2019s James Webb Space Telescope. The first team used Webb to observe the dusty disk surrounding a young red dwarf star, the second to discover an exoplanet, and the third used the telescope\u2019s infrared sensitivity to uncover the mysterious star formation processes in an open star cluster.<\/p>\n
The findings presented at AAS come just after Webb\u2019s one-year launch anniversary on Dec. 25, 2022, and six months after the release of the observatory\u2019s first images on July 11 and 12, 2022. The results presented on Jan. 11 continue to highlight the power and capabilities of Webb.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Dusty Disk of AU Mic<\/p>\n
Located 32 light-years away in the constellation Microscopium is the red dwarf star AU Microscopii, or AU Mic. Approximately 23 million years old, the star and its system are still quite young (in cosmic terms) and house two exoplanets, which likely formed sometime in the first 10 million years of the system\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
However, as seen in Webb\u2019s images of AU Mic, a large and extremely dusty debris disk surrounds the red dwarf, likely enveloping the exoplanets. The disk is a remnant of the formation of AU Mic and the collisions between planetesimals, which are the leftovers of the formation of planets. These planetesimal collisions help to replenish the disk and provide a look back into the history of the system.<\/p>\n
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Webb\u2019s images of the AU Mic system and the debris disc surrounding the star. The center of the star is denoted with the white star symbol. (Credit: NASA\/ESA\/CSA\/K. Lawson\/A. Pagan)<\/p>\n
\u201cA debris disk is continuously replenished by collisions of planetesimals. By studying it, we get a unique window into the recent dynamical history of this system,\u201d said the study\u2019s lead author Kellen Lawson of NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.<\/p>\n
Webb\u2019s collection of highly-sensitive and powerful infrared instruments allowed Lawson et al. to see the AU Mic system in extreme detail, allowing them to study certain aspects of the system in ways not possible before Webb.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis system is one of the very few examples of a young star, with known exoplanets and a debris disk that is near enough and bright enough to study holistically using Webb\u2019s uniquely powerful instruments,\u201d said Goddard\u2019s Josh Schlieder, principal investigator for the observing program and a study co-author.<\/p>\n
For the AU Mic observations, Lawson et al. used Webb\u2019s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), which observes objects in the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Within NIRCam is a coronagraph, which is a telescopic instrument used to block out the light from stars. NIRCam\u2019s coronagraph blocked out the light from AU Mic during the Lawson et al. observations, allowing the team to image and study the star\u2019s local environment and surrounding structures (i.e. AU Mic\u2019s debris disk).<\/p>\n
NIRCam imaged the debris disk at wavelengths of 3.56 and 4.44 microns, with the disk appearing bluer in the final processed images. The blue appearance is due to the disk being brighter at shorter wavelengths, meaning that the disk likely contains a high amount of fine dust that scatters light at shorter wavelengths rather than longer, redder wavelengths.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s more, NIRCam\u2019s coronagraph was so effective at blocking AU Mic during the observations that Lawson et al. were able to trace the debris disk to within five astronomical units (AU), or 460 million miles, of the star. Five AU is the equivalent of Jupiter\u2019s orbit in our solar system, with one AU representing the distance between Earth and the Sun.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur first look at the data far exceeded expectations. It was more detailed than we expected. It was brighter than we expected. We detected the disk closer in than we expected. We\u2019re hoping that as we dig deeper, there\u2019s going to be some more surprises that we hadn\u2019t predicted,\u201d Schlieder said.<\/p>\n