Glancing through the debris disk: Photometric analysis of DE Boo with CHEOPS

Maxted

Abstract

DE Boo is a unique system, with an edge-on view through the debris disk around the star. The disk, which is analogous to the Kuiper belt in the Solar System, was reported to extend from 74 to 84 AU from the central star. The high photometric precision of the Characterising Exoplanet Satellite (CHEOPS) provided an exceptional opportunity to observe small variations in the light curve due to transiting material in the disk. This is a unique chance to investigate processes in the debris disk. Photometric observations of DE Boo of a total of four days were carried out with CHEOPS. Photometric variations due to spots on the stellar surface were subtracted from the light curves by applying a two-spot model and a fourth-order polynomial. The photometric observations were accompanied by spectroscopic measurements with the 1m RCC telescope at Piszk\'estet\H{o} and with the SOPHIE spectrograph in order to refine the astrophysical parameters of DE Boo. We present a detailed analysis of the photometric observation of DE Boo. We report the presence of nonperiodic transient features in the residual light curves with a transit duration of 0.3-0.8 days. We calculated the maximum distance of the material responsible for these variations to be 2.47 AU from the central star, much closer than most of the mass of the debris disk. Furthermore, we report the first observation of flaring events in this system. We interpreted the transient features as the result of scattering in an inner debris disk around DE Boo. The processes responsible for these variations were investigated in the context of interactions between planetesimals in the system.

Citation

Maxted. (2023). Glancing through the debris disk: Photometric analysis of DE Boo with CHEOPS. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 671, Article A127. https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202245101

• Acceptance Date: Jan 20, 2023
• Publication Date: Mar 17, 2023
• Journal: Astronomy & Astrophysics
• Print ISSN: 0004-6361
• Electronic ISSN: 1432-0746
• Publisher: EDP Sciences
• Volume: 671
• Article Number: A127
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202245101
• Keywords: techniques: photometric / methods: data analysis / stars: flare / starspots / circumstellar matter
• Publisher URL: https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/full_html/2023/03/aa45101-22/aa45101-22.html
• Additional Information: Open Access article, published by EDP Sciences, under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.; ; This article is published in open access under the Subscribe to Open model. Subscribe to A&A to support open access publication.