http://arxiv.org/abs/1806.08842
First observed with the Kepler mission, KIC 8462852 undergoes unexplained dimming events, “dips,” on the timescale of days which were again observed from the ground from May to December 2017. Monitored with multi-band photometry by the Los Cumbres Observatory, all four dips of the “Elsie dip family” display clear wavelength dependence. We measure how the wavelength dependence changes over the whole dimming event, including the dimming between the dips and the brightening event (the `blip’) which occurs after the dips. We find that a single wavelength dependence does not fit the entire light curve and the dimming occurring between the dips is non-gray and varies in time. Because of the non-gray dimming between the dips, we measure the wavelength dependence of the dips separately and without the extra depth from this dimming. Such measurements yield a different estimate of the wavelength dependence the wavelength dependence of the dips but remains consistent with the previous measurement except for Elsie (the first dip), which is surrounded by dimming with strong wavelength dependence. We find the range of the wavelength dependence variation of the entire 2017 light curve is consistent with optically-thin dust with an average radius of $r<1\,\mu$m and the dust causing just the dips being $r<0.5\,\mu$m. Since the dependence is time-dependent, the dust occulting the star must be heterogeneous in size, composition, or both and the distributions of these properties along the line of sight must change over time.
E. Bodman, J. Wright, T. Boyajian, et. al.
Tue, 26 Jun 18
59/71
Comments: 21 pages, 13 figures, submitted to AAS Journals
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