Indicator of Exo-Solar Planet(s) in the Circumstellar Disk Around Beta Pictoris

Abstract

Our efficient numerical approach has been applied to modeling the asymmetric circumstellar dust disk around Beta Pictoris as observed with the HST/STIS. We present a new model on the origin of the warping of the Beta Pic disk. We suggest that the observed warp is formed by the gravitational influence of a planet with a mass of about 10 masses of Earth, at a distance of 70 AU, and a small inclination ($\sim 2.5^\circ$) of the planetary orbit to the main dust disk. Results of our modeling are compared with the STIS observations.

4 pages, incl. 2 Figures. To be published in "Planetary Systems in the Universe: Observation, Formation, and Evolution" (A.J. Penny, P. Artymowicz, and S.S. Russell, eds.). Proc. IAU Symp. No. 202, ASP Conference Series, vol. xxx, (2001)