• DOI:10.1086/517993
• Corpus ID: 16694

Born-Again Protoplanetary Disk around Mira B

@article{Ireland2007BornAgainPD,
  title={Born-Again Protoplanetary Disk around Mira B},
  author={Michael J. Ireland and John D. Monnier and Peter G. Tuthill and Richard W. Cohen and James M. De Buizer and Christopher Packham and David R. Ciardi and Thomas L. Hayward and James P. Lloyd},
  journal={The Astrophysical Journal},
  year={2007},
  volume={662},
  pages={651-657}
}

• M. Ireland, J. Monnier, +6 authors J. Lloyd
• Published 10 March 2007
• Physics, Geology
• The Astrophysical Journal

The Mira AB system is a nearby (~107 pc) example of a wind accreting binary star system. In this class of system, the wind from a mass-losing red giant star (Mira A) is accreted onto a companion (Mira B), as indicated by an accretion shock signature in spectra at ultraviolet and X-ray wavelengths. Using novel imaging techniques, we report the detection of emission at mid-infrared wavelengths between 9.7 and 18.3 µm from the vicinity of Mira B but with a peak at a radial position about 10 AU closer to the primary Mira A. We interpret the mid-infrared emission as the edge of an optically-thick accretion disk heated by Mira A. The discovery of this new class of accretion disk fed by M-giant mass loss implies a potential population of young planetary systems in white dwarf binaries, which has been little explored despite being relatively common in the solar neighborhood.