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Discovery of a shell around Alpha LyraeIRAS observations of Alpha Lyrae reveal a large infrared excess beyond 12 microns. The excess over an extrapolation of a 10,000 K blackbody is a factor of 1.3 at 25 microns, 7 at 60 microns, and 16 at 100 microns. The source of 60 microns emission has a diameter of about 20 arcsec. This is the first detection of a large infrared excess from a main-sequence star without significant mass loss. The most likely origin of the excess is thermal radiation from solid particles more than a millimeter in radius, located approximately 85 AU from Alpha Lyr and heated by the star to an equilibrium temperature of 85 K. These results provide the first direct evidence outside of the solar system for the growth of large particles from the residual of the prenatal cloud of gas and dust.
Document ID
19840044917
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Aumann, H. H.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Beichman, C. A.
(California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena CA, United States)
Gillett, F. C.
(Kitt Peak National Observatory Tucson, AZ, United States)
De Jong, T.
(Amsterdam, Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Houck, J. R.
(Cornell University Ithaca, NY, United States)
Low, F. J.
(Steward Observatory Tucson, AZ, United States)
Neugebauer, G.
(California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA, United States)
Walker, R. G.
(Jamieson Science and Engineering, Inc. Palo Alto, CA, United States)
Wesselius, P. R.
(Groningen Rijksuniversiteit, Groningen, Netherlands)
Date Acquired
August 12, 2013
Publication Date
March 1, 1984
Publication Information
Publication: Astrophysical Journal, Part 2 - Letters to the Editor
Volume: 278
ISSN: 0004-637X
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
84A27704
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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