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[41.06] Spitzer Space Telescope Observations of beta Pictoris with IRS and MIPS

C. H. Chen (JPL), J. E. Van Cleve (Ball Aerospace), D. M. Watson (Univ. of Rochester), J. R. Houck (Cornell), M. W. Werner, K. R. Stapelfeldt (JPL/Caltech), G. G. Fazio (SAO/CfA), G. H. Rieke (Arizona)

We have obtained Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) and Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS) observations of the circumstellar dust around beta Pictoris, a 12 Myr old main sequence A-type star at 19.3 pc from the Sun with an infrared excess discovered by IRAS. beta Pictoris is one of the "Fabulous Four" debris disk objects (along with epsilon Eri, Fomalhaut, and Vega) which is resolved at submillimeter wavelengths and is resolved with Spitzer. We present mid- and far-infrared images (16 micron, 24 micron, 70 micron, and 160 micron) and spatially resolved spectra (5 - 40 microns) of the circumstellar dust and use these results to map the surface brightness profile, to determine the composition of the constituent dust grains, and to constrain the molecular hydrogen content of the disk.

The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: christine.chen@jpl.nasa.gov

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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 #2
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