Optical Imaging Polarimetry of the LkCa 15 Protoplanetary Disk with SPHERE ZIMPOL

Journal
Date Issued
2015
Author(s)
Thalmann, C.
•
Mulders, G. D.
•
Janson, M.
•
Olofsson, J.
•
Benisty, M.
•
Avenhaus, H.
•
Quanz, S. P.
•
Schmid, H. M.
•
Henning, T.
•
Buenzli, E.
•
Ménard, F.
•
Carson, J. C.
•
•
•
Dominik, C.
•
Leisenring, J.
•
Chauvin, G.
•
Meyer, M. R.
DOI
Description
We thank A. Isella and the anonymous referee for helpful correspondence. This work has been carried out within the frame of the National Centre for Competence in Research PlanetS supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation. C.T., S.P.Q., H.M.S., M.R.M. acknowledge support from SNSF. C. T. is supported by the European Commission under Marie Curie IEF grant No. 329875. J.O. acknowledges support from the Millennium Nucleus RC130007 (Chilean Ministry of Economy). J.C. was supported by NSF under award 1009203. Facilities: VLT:Melipal (SPHERE ZIMPOL)
Abstract
We present the first optical (590–890 nm) imaging polarimetry observations of the pre-transitional protoplanetary disk around the young solar analog LkCa 15, addressing a number of open questions raised by previous studies. We detect the previously unseen far side of the disk gap, confirming the highly off-centered scattered-light gap shape that was postulated from near-infrared imaging, at odds with the symmetric gap inferred from millimeter interferometry. Furthermore, we resolve the inner disk for the first time and trace it out to 30 AU. This new source of scattered light may contribute to the near-infrared interferometric signal attributed to the protoplanet candidate LkCa 15 b, which lies embedded in the outer regions of the inner disk. Finally, we present a new model for the system architecture of LkCa 15 that ties these new findings together. These observations were taken during science verification of SPHERE ZIMPOL and demonstrate this facility’s performance for faint guide stars under adverse observing conditions.
Volume
808
Issue
2
Start page
L41
Uri
Url
Issn Identifier
2041-8205
Ads BibCode
2015ApJ...808L..41T
Rights
open.access
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