Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Ertel, S.
• Defrère, D.
• Hinz, P.
• Mennesson, B.
• Kennedy, G. M.
• Danchi, W. C.
• Gelino, C.
• Hill, J. M.
• Hoffmann, W. F.
• Mazoyer, J.
• Rieke, G.
• Shannon, A.
• Stapelfeldt, K.
• Spalding, E.
• Stone, J. M.
• Vaz, A.
• Weinberger, A. J.
• Willems, P.
• Absil, O.
• Arbo, P.
• Bailey, V. P.
• Beichman, C.
• Bryden, G.
• Downey, E. C.
• Durney, O.
• Esposito, S.
• Gaspar, A.
• Grenz, P.
• Haniff, C. A.
• Leisenring, J. M.
• Marion, L.
• McMahon, T. J.
• Millan-Gabet, R.
• Montoya, M.
• Morzinski, K. M.
• Perera, S.
• Pinna, E.
• Pott, J.-U.
• Power, J.
• Puglisi, A.
• Roberge, A.
• Serabyn, E.
• Skemer, A. J.
• Su, K. Y. L.
• Vaitheeswaran, V.
• Wyatt, M. C.

Titel

The HOSTS Survey for Exozodiacal Dust: Observational Results from the Complete Survey

Ist Teil von

• The Astronomical journal, 2020-04, Vol.159 (4), p.177

Ort / Verlag

Goddard Space Flight Center: The American Astronomical Society

Erscheinungsjahr

2020

Quelle

EZB Electronic Journals Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI) enables nulling interferometric observations across the N band (8 to 13 m) to suppress a star's bright light and probe for faint circumstellar emission. We present and statistically analyze the results from the LBTI/Hunt for Observable Signatures of Terrestrial Systems survey for exozodiacal dust. By comparing our measurements to model predictions based on the solar zodiacal dust in the N band, we estimate a 1 median sensitivity of 23 zodis times the solar system dust surface density in its habitable zone (HZ; 23 zodis) for early-type stars and 48 zodis for Sun-like stars, where 1 zodi is the surface density of HZ dust in the solar system. Of the 38 stars observed, 10 show significant excess. A clear correlation of our detections with the presence of cold dust in the systems was found, but none with the stellar spectral type or age. The majority of Sun-like stars have relatively low HZ dust levels (best-fit median: 3 zodis, 1 upper limit: 9 zodis, 95% confidence: 27 zodis based on our N band measurements), while ∼20% are significantly more dusty. The solar system's HZ dust content is consistent with being typical. Our median HZ dust level would not be a major limitation to the direct imaging search for Earth-like exoplanets, but more precise constraints are still required, in particular to evaluate the impact of exozodiacal dust for the spectroscopic characterization of imaged exo-Earth candidates.