A Herschel^⋆ resolved far-infrared dust ring around HD 207129

¹ Departmento Física TeóricaFacultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain
e-mail: jonathan.marshall@uam.es
² Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, Astrophysikalisches Institut und Universitätssternwarte, 07743 Jena, Germany
³ Departmento de Astrofísica, Centro de Astrobiología (CAB, CSIC-INTA), ESAC Campus, PO Box 78, 28691 Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain
⁴ Institut d’Astrophysique et de Géophysique, Université de Liège, 17 Allée du Six Août, 4000 Sart Tilman, Belgium
⁵ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
⁶ ESA-ESAC Gaia SOC. PO Box 78 28691 Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain
⁷ NASA Herschel Science Center, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
⁸ UJF-Grenoble 1/CNRS-INSU, Institut de Planétologie et d’Astrophysique de Grenoble (IPAG) UMR 5274, 38041 Grenoble, France
⁹ European Space Observatory, Alonso de Cordova 3107, Vitacura, Casilla 19001, Santiago 19, Chile
¹⁰ UNINOVA-CA3, Campus da Caparica, Quinta da Torre, Monte de Caparica, 2825-149 Caparica, Portugal
¹¹ NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics, Code 667, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
¹² Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Institut für Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik, Leibnizstr. 15, 24098 Kiel, Germany
¹³ Max-Planck Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
¹⁴ John Hopkins University, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, 3701 San Martin drive, Baltimore, MD 21210, USA
¹⁵ ESA Astrophysics & Fundamental Physics Missions Division, ESTEC/SRE-SA, Keplerlaan 1, 2201 AZ Noordwijk, The Netherlands
¹⁶ INSA at ESAC, 28691 Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain
¹⁷ Onsala Space Observatory, Chalmers University of Technology, 439 92 Onsala, Sweden
¹⁸ LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, 92195 Meudon Principal Cedex, France
¹⁹ Department of Physics and Astrophysics, Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, UK
²⁰ Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton OX11 0QX, UK

Received: 8 February 2011
Accepted: 17 March 2011

Abstract

Context. Dusty debris discs around main sequence stars are thought to be the result of continuous collisional grinding of planetesimals in the system. The majority of these systems are unresolved and analysis of the dust properties is limited by the lack of information regarding the dust location.

Aims. The Herschel DUNES key program is observing 133 nearby, Sun-like stars (<20 pc, FGK spectral type) in a volume limited survey to constrain the absolute incidence of cold dust around these stars by detection of far infrared excess emission at flux levels comparable to the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt (EKB).

Methods. We have observed the Sun-like star HD 207129 with Herschel PACS and SPIRE. In all three PACS bands we resolve a ring-like structure consistent with scattered light observations. Using α Boötis as a reference point spread function (PSF), we deconvolved the images, clearly resolving the inner gap in the disc at both 70 and 100 μm.

Results. We have resolved the dust-producing planetesimal belt of a debris disc at 100 μm for the first time. We measure the radial profile and fractional luminosity of the disc, and compare the values to those of discs around stars of similar age and/or spectral type, placing this disc in context of other resolved discs observed by Herschel/DUNES.