Welcome to the new version of CaltechAUTHORS. Login is currently restricted to library staff. If you notice any issues, please email coda@library.caltech.edu
Published October 20, 2016 | Published
Journal Article Open

Disk Detective: Discovery of New Circumstellar Disk Candidates through Citizen Science

Abstract

The Disk Detective citizen science project aims to find new stars with 22 μm excess emission from circumstellar dust using data from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission. Initial cuts on the AllWISE catalog provide an input catalog of 277,686 sources. Volunteers then view images of each source online in 10 different bands to identify false positives (galaxies, interstellar matter, image artifacts, etc.). Sources that survive this online vetting are followed up with spectroscopy on the FLWO Tillinghast telescope. This approach should allow us to unleash the full potential of WISE for finding new debris disks and protoplanetary disks. We announce a first list of 37 new disk candidates discovered by the project, and we describe our vetting and follow-up process. One of these systems appears to contain the first debris disk discovered around a star with a white dwarf companion: HD 74389. We also report four newly discovered classical Be stars (HD 6612, HD 7406, HD 164137, and HD 218546) and a new detection of 22 μm excess around the previously known debris disk host star HD 22128.

Additional Information

© 2016. The American Astronomical Society. Received 2016 March 21; revised 2016 July 1; accepted 2016 July 14; published 2016 October 14. We acknowledge support from grant 14-ADAP14-0161 from the NASA Astrophysics Data Analysis Program. M.K. acknowledges funding from the NASA Astrobiology Program via the Goddard Center for Astrobiology and support from NASA's Science Innovation Fund. Development of the Disk Detectives site was supported by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan foundation, and the Zooniverse platform is supported by a Google Global Impact award. WISE is a joint project of the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)/California Institute of Technology (Caltech), funded by NASA. 2MASS is a joint project of the University of Massachusetts and the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) at Caltech, funded by NASA and the NSF. This paper uses data products produced by the OIR Telescope Data Center, supported by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. The DSS was produced at the Space Telescope Science Institute under U.S. Government grant NAG W-2166. The images of these surveys are based on photographic data obtained using the Oschin Schmidt Telescope on Palomar Mountain and the UK Schmidt Telescope. The plates were processed into the present compressed digital form with the permission of these institutions. This work has made use of the BeSS database, operated at LESIA, Observatoire de Meudon, France: http://basebe.obspm.fr. Funding for the SDSS and SDSS-II has been provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Participating Institutions, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Japanese Monbukagakusho, the Max Planck Society, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The SDSS Web site is http://www.sdss.org/. The SDSS is managed by the Astrophysical Research Consortium for the Participating Institutions. The Participating Institutions are the American Museum of Natural History, Astrophysical Institute Potsdam, University of Basel, University of Cambridge, Case Western Reserve University, University of Chicago, Drexel University, Fermilab, the Institute for Advanced Study, the Japan Participation Group, Johns Hopkins University, the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics, the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, the Korean Scientist Group, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (LAMOST), Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy (MPIA), the Max-Planck-Institute for Astrophysics (MPA), New Mexico State University, Ohio State University, University of Pittsburgh, University of Portsmouth, Princeton University, the United States Naval Observatory, and the University of Washington. The data presented in this paper result from the efforts of the Disk Detective volunteers, without whom this work would not have been possible. The following volunteers helped classify the stars listed in this paper: 13lueAngeL, A.Brodersen, abienvenu, AlarmingAlarm, AlbeeLou, alinastart, anowi, anoxie, Arlon, artman40, arvintan, atmosferah, bc2callhome, bellapagano, berlherm, biggsjrex, billweiler, bmw.996, BraehlerM, brainell, breckwilhite, Bromista, cazze74, Chinabob, chloecollins, christania10110, clairwallis, clayzer-ev, Cosmic Jerk, cstickmaker, daisy1000, Deke scott T, dianaz, diplomacy42, djperkins@live.co.uk, DNiergarth, dooces, Ercydive, feder, ferrertiago, fireandice, firewatermoonearth, Fletrik, ftpol, GBav8r, geckzilla, Gez Quiruga, giazira, golfmadman, Grubenm, Haian, hardan, hearzadrsos, HelmutU, i-mac, iponenubs, IrvSet, Ivan_3, j.altman@kpnplanet.n, jacedjohnson, jacobus.valk@polk.de, janiceashdown, JasonJason, jellybelly123, JessicaElizabeth, jgreyes, jmeyers314, JoJeFree, jorge96, josa310, justinsbuzz, kafter, kecsap, keel, KI4FYP, kiarash, kijkuit, Killoch, kmk, lambrosliamis, lehensuge, ljhinton21, Mack777, manemag, marca, marchl, marcin.s, Maria Mar, mattlou117, MDLW, michiharu, miertje, miltonbosch, mlavall2@uwo.ca, Mric116, MylesAtkins, N5bz, namorris, nipper10, nirajsanghvi, norbertf, Noreal, nunolanca, ohio_pugmom, OMHans, onetimegolfer, orionsam1, Pamela Foster, PaulRo, peterw143, Petrusperes, Pini2013, pixelfixx, planetari7, plutoexpress, ptrip2010, QGR, Raymond Hall, RefugeZero, Ridence, RobhJ, Rocketman93, RoLeCa, rt26556@wdmtigers.or, russ jones, ryangeho, ryanstone87, sandrisvi, scottwferg, sheilaandpeter, Shigeru, shocko61, Shroomzz, silviug, Siver, SoloSlayer9, Star hunter 1, starbase3, steve bourne, SUMO_2011, SunJinx, symaski62, TED91, Tigrincs, Timothy Fitzgerald, tom.luthe, Troomander, Trumanator, Tsgt, turtle0920, Victory1, Vinokurov, Vonkohon, voyager1682002, Vulpi, weric1, WizardHowl, Woomaster, WXdestroyer, xantipa, Yiska, Zealex. We also thank Christoph Baranec and Katharina Doll for providing useful comments on this paper.

Attached Files

Published - Kuchner_2016_ApJ_830_84.pdf

Files

Kuchner_2016_ApJ_830_84.pdf
Files (3.1 MB)
Name Size Download all
md5:1ebe6adefc677493d2d3163c3ae183a1
3.1 MB Preview Download

Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 23, 2023