Investigating the HD139664 Star and Debris Disk with ALMA

Undergraduate Honors Thesis

Citations

Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/undergraduate_honors_theses/5h73px85p

Abstract

We present a comprehensive analysis of the HD139664 star and its debris disk, utilizing approximately 1.5 hours of data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). HD139664, an F-type main sequence star located 17.5 parsecs from Earth, is surrounded by a nearly edge-on debris disk. This study aims to refine our understanding of the disk's interesting structure and the star's activity at millimeter wavelengths.

Employing CASA tasks, tclean, uvmodelfit, and various pipelines, we have created a resolved image of the debris disk and detected seven small flares from the star. A notable brightness asymmetry on the disk's right side suggests an interesting dynamic process at play. Our analysis uses a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) framework to quantify the disk's architecture. Initially focusing on symmetric models to establish a baseline, we intend to further explore any asymmetries or eccentricities with a more complex model.

The findings from this study not only increase our knowledge of the specific HD139664 system but also contribute to the broader understanding of debris disks and stellar flares, and thus also the formation, evolution, and potential habitability of planetary systems.

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