A triple-star system with a misaligned and warped circumstellar disk shaped by disk tearing

Stefan Kraus¹, Alexander Kreplin², Alison K Young^{2

3}, Matthew R Bate², John D Monnier⁴, Tim J Harries², Henning Avenhaus, Jacques Kluska^{2

5}, Anna S E Laws², Evan A Rich⁴, Matthew Willson^{2

6}, Alicia N Aarnio⁷, Fred C Adams⁴, Sean M Andrews⁸, Narsireddy Anugu^{2

4

9}, Jaehan Bae^{4

10}, Theo Ten Brummelaar¹¹, Nuria Calvet⁴, Michel Curé¹², Claire L Davies², Jacob Ennis⁴, Catherine Espaillat¹³, Tyler Gardner⁴, Lee Hartmann⁴, Sasha Hinkley², Aaron Labdon², Cyprien Lanthermann⁵, Jean-Baptiste LeBouquin^{4

14}, Gail H Schaefer¹¹, Benjamin R Setterholm⁴, David Wilner⁸, Zhaohuan Zhu¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QL, UK. s.kraus@exeter.ac.uk.
² School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QL, UK.
³ School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK.
⁴ Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
⁵ Instituut voor Sterrenkunde, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.
⁶ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30302, USA.
⁷ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA.
⁸ Center for Astrophysics, Harvard and Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
⁹ Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
¹⁰ Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC 20015, USA.
¹¹ The Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy Array of Georgia State University, Mount Wilson, CA 91023, USA.
¹² Instituto de Fisica y Astronomia, Universidad de Valparaiso, Casilla 5030, Valparaiso, Chile.
¹³ Department of Astronomy, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
¹⁴ Université Grenoble Alpes, Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique, 38000 Grenoble, France.
¹⁵ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA.

PMID: 32883866
DOI: 10.1126/science.aba4633

A triple-star system with a misaligned and warped circumstellar disk shaped by disk tearing

Stefan Kraus et al. Science. 2020.

. 2020 Sep 4;369(6508):1233-1238.

doi: 10.1126/science.aba4633.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QL, UK. s.kraus@exeter.ac.uk.
² School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QL, UK.
³ School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK.
⁴ Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
⁵ Instituut voor Sterrenkunde, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium.
⁶ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30302, USA.
⁷ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC 27402, USA.
⁸ Center for Astrophysics, Harvard and Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
⁹ Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
¹⁰ Carnegie Institution for Science, Washington, DC 20015, USA.
¹¹ The Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy Array of Georgia State University, Mount Wilson, CA 91023, USA.
¹² Instituto de Fisica y Astronomia, Universidad de Valparaiso, Casilla 5030, Valparaiso, Chile.
¹³ Department of Astronomy, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
¹⁴ Université Grenoble Alpes, Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique, 38000 Grenoble, France.
¹⁵ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA.

PMID: 32883866
DOI: 10.1126/science.aba4633

Abstract

Young stars are surrounded by a circumstellar disk of gas and dust, within which planet formation can occur. Gravitational forces in multiple star systems can disrupt the disk. Theoretical models predict that if the disk is misaligned with the orbital plane of the stars, the disk should warp and break into precessing rings, a phenomenon known as disk tearing. We present observations of the triple-star system GW Orionis, finding evidence for disk tearing. Our images show an eccentric ring that is misaligned with the orbital planes and the outer disk. The ring casts shadows on a strongly warped intermediate region of the disk. If planets can form within the warped disk, disk tearing could provide a mechanism for forming wide-separation planets on oblique orbits.

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A triple-star system with a misaligned and warped circumstellar disk shaped by disk tearing

Affiliations

A triple-star system with a misaligned and warped circumstellar disk shaped by disk tearing

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

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LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources