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Session 53 - Circumstellar Disks & Outflows Associated with YSOs.
Oral session, Tuesday, January 14
Piers 4/5,
Coronagraphic images of a B5V binary star reveal a linear and symmetric reflection nebulosity which we identify as a candidate circumbinary dust disk. The disk-like structure is bisected by the star at PA=131^o and has a projected radius of 20" (6600 AU). The midplane surface brightness profile indicates that disk material is depleted within 7" (2300 AU). The central binary is resolved at K' with PA=16^o and separation of 0.60". The blue color of scattered light suggests the presence of sub-micron grains that, in the absence of a significant gas content, must be removed on 1000 yr timescales. We postulate that the reflection nebulosity is replenished by the erosion of larger, unseen parent bodies and represents a stage of disk evolution comparable to, but younger than the \beta Pic dust disk.
