Open AccessThe absence of CO from the dust peak around ε Eri
Author(s) -
Coulson I. M.,
Dent W. R. F.,
Greaves J. S.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.07563.x
Subject(s) - physics , planetesimal , astrophysics , astrobiology , carbon monoxide , cosmic dust , circumstellar dust , astronomy , planet , biochemistry , chemistry , catalysis
We have searched for the J = 2–1 emission of carbon monoxide (CO) from the brightest peak in the epsilon Eridani (ε Eri) dust disc – without success. The non‐detection sets 3σ upper limits to the mass of CO gas in the dust peak of 3.3 × 10 16 kg and to the total amount of (H 2 ) gas in the disc of 8 × 10 19 kg . The paucity of gas in the disc (there is ∼1000× more dust) constrains the composition of orbiting comets or icy planetesimals. If these comprise the pre‐eminent reservoir of dust and gas in both the Edgeworth–Kuiper Belt (EKB) and the ε Eri disc then it seems unlikely that the ε Eri planetesimals can be as rich in volatiles as their EKB counterparts.