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arXiv · 1603.03023

Imaging the dust sublimation front of a circumbinary disk

M. Hillen·J. Kluska·J. -B. Le Bouquin·H. Van Winckel·J. -P. Berger·D. Kamath·V. Bujarrabal
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Abstract

We present the first near-IR milli-arcsecond-scale image of a post-AGB binary that is surrounded by hot circumbinary dust. A very rich interferometric data set in six spectral channels was acquired of IRAS08544-4431 with the new RAPID camera on the PIONIER beam combiner at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). A broadband image in the \textit{H} band was reconstructed by combining the data of all spectral channels using the SPARCO method. We spatially separate all the building blocks of the IRAS08544-4431 system in our milliarcsecond-resolution image. Our dissection reveals a dust sublimation front that is strikingly similar to that expected in early-stage protoplanetary disks, as well as an unexpected flux signal of $\sim$4\% from the secondary star. The energy output from this companion indicates the presence of a compact circum-companion accretion disk, which is likely the origin of the fast outflow detected in H$\alpha$. Our image provides the most detailed view into the heart of a dusty circumstellar disk to date. Our results demonstrate that binary evolution processes and circumstellar disk evolution can be studied in detail in space and over time.

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M. Hillen, J. Kluska, J. -B. Le Bouquin, H. Van Winckel, J. -P. Berger, D. Kamath, V. Bujarrabal. 2016-03-09. Imaging the dust sublimation front of a circumbinary disk. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201628125

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