Issue |
A&A
Volume 553, May 2013
|
|
---|---|---|
Article Number | L1 | |
Number of page(s) | 4 | |
Section | Letters | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201220715 | |
Published online | 26 April 2013 |
Active asteroid belt causes the UXOR phenomenon in RZ Piscium
1
European Southern Observatory,
Casilla 19001,
Santiago 19,
Chile
e-mail:
wdewit@eso.org
2
Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory, Russian Academy of Sciences,
196140 Pulkovo,
St. Petersburg,
Russia
3
The Sobolev Astronomical Institute, St. Petersburg University,
Petrodvorets,
St. Petersburg,
Russia
4
Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, P. Nauchny, Crimea,
Ukraine
5
Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD
21218,
USA
6
Leiden Observatory, PO Box 9513, 2300 RA
Leiden, The
Netherlands
Received:
9
November
2012
Accepted:
18
March
2013
We report the discovery of mid-infrared excess emission in the young object RZ Psc. The excess constitutes ~8% of its Lbol and is well fit by a single 500 K blackbody, implying a dust-free region within ~0.7 AU for optically thick dust. The object displays dust obscuration events (UXOR behaviour) on a time scale that suggests dusty material on orbits of ~0.5 AU. We also report a 12.4-year cyclical photometric variability that can be interpreted as caused by perturbations in the dust distribution. The system is characterized by a high inclination, marginal extinction (during bright photometric states), a single temperature for the warm dust, and an age estimate that puts the star beyond the formation stage. We propose that the dust occultation events present a dynamical view of an active asteroid belt whose collisional products sporadically obscure the central star.
Key words: stars: variables: T Tauri, Herbig Ae/Be / techniques: photometric / planet-disk interactions / stars: late-type / stars: individual: RZ Psc
© ESO, 2013
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