Fomalhaut debris disk emission at 7 millimeters: constraints on the collisional models of planetesimals

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Title: Fomalhaut debris disk emission at 7 millimeters: constraints on the collisional models of planetesimals
Author(s): Ricci, L.; Testi, L.; Maddison, S. T.; Wilner, D. J.
Abstract: We present new spatially resolved observations of the dust thermal emission at 7 mm from the Fomalhaut debris disk obtained with the Australia Telescope Compact Array. These observations provide the longest wavelength detection of the Fomalhaut debris disk to date. We combined the new data to literature sub-mm data to investigate the spectral index of the dust thermal emission in the sub-millimeter and constrained the q-slope of the power-law grain size distribution. We derived a value for q = 3.48 ± 0.14 for grains with sizes around 1 mm. This is consistent with the classical prediction for a collisional cascade at the steady-state. The same value cannot be explained by more recent collisional models of planetesimals in which either the velocity distribution of the large bodies or their tensile strength is a strong function of the body size.
Publication type: Journal article
Research centre: Swinburne University of Technology. Faculty of Information and Communication Technologies. Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing
Source: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Vol. 539 (Mar 2012), article no. L6
Publication year: 2012
FOR Code(s): 0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences
Keyword(s): Circumstellar matter; Letters to the editor; Planetary systems; Submillimeter
Publisher: EDP Sciences
ISSN: 0004-6361
Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201118524
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