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Chasing Shadows: Rotation of the Azimuthal Asymmetry in the TW Hya DiskWe have obtained new images of the protoplanetary disk orbiting TW Hya in visible, total intensity light with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), using the newly commissioned BAR5 occulter. These HSTSTIS observations achieved an inner working angle of approximately 0 "2, or11.7 au, probing the system at angular radii coincident with recent images of the disk obtained by ALMA and in polarized intensity near-infrared light. By comparing our new STIS images to those taken with STIS in 2000 and with NICMOS in 1998, 2004, and 2005, we demonstrate that TW Hyas azimuthal surface brightness asymmetry moves coherently in position angle. Between 50 au and 141 au we measure a constant angular velocity in the azimuthal brightness asymmetry of 22.deg7 yr(exp -1) in a counterclockwise direction, equivalent to a period of 15.9yrassuming circular motion. Both the (short) inferred period and lack of radial dependence of the moving shadow pattern are inconsistent with Keplerian rotation at these disk radii. We hypothesize that the asymmetry arises from the fact that the disk interior to 1 au is inclined and precessing owing to a planetary companion, thus partially shadowing the outer disk. Further monitoring of this and other shadows on protoplanetary disks potentially opens anew avenue for indirectly observing the sites of planet formation.
Document ID
20170007847
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Debes, John H.
(Space Telescope Science Inst. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Poteet, Charles A.
(Space Telescope Science Inst. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Jang-Condell, Hannah
(Wyoming Univ. Laramie, WY, United States)
Gaspar, Andras
(Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Hines, Dean
(Space Telescope Science Inst. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Kastner, Joel H.
(Rochester Inst. of Tech. Rochester, NY, United States)
Pueyo, Laurent
(Space Telescope Science Inst. Baltimore, MD, United States)
Rapson, Valerie
(Rochester Inst. of Tech. Rochester, NY, United States)
Roberge, Aki
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Schneider, Glenn
(Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Weinberger, Alycia J.
(Carnegie Institution for Science Washington, DC, United States)
Date Acquired
August 18, 2017
Publication Date
January 31, 2017
Publication Information
Publication: The Astrophysical Journal
Publisher: The American Astronomical Society
Volume: 835
Issue: 2
ISSN: 2041-8205
e-ISSN: 2041-8213
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN45576
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: HST-GO-13753
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS5-26555
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX16AB43G
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
protoplanetary disk orbiting TW Hya

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