A triple-star system with a misaligned and warped circumstellar disk shaped by disk tearing.

Young stars are surrounded by a circumstellar disk of gas and dust, within which planet formation can occur. Gravitational forces in multiple star systems can disrupt the disk. Theoretical models predict that if the disk is misaligned with the orbital plane of the stars, the disk should warp and break into precessing rings, a phenomenon known as disk tearing. We present observations of the triple-star system GW Orionis, finding evidence for disk tearing. Our images show an eccentric ring that is misaligned with the orbital planes and the outer disk. The ring casts shadows on a strongly warped intermediate region of the disk. If planets can form within the warped disk, disk tearing could provide a mechanism for forming wide-separation planets on oblique orbits.

Infrared images of the transiting disk in the epsilon Aurigae system.

Epsilon Aurigae (epsilon Aur) is a visually bright, eclipsing binary star system with a period of 27.1 years. The cause of each 18-month-long eclipse has been a subject of controversy for nearly 190 years because the companion has hitherto been undetectable. The orbital elements imply that the opaque object has roughly the same mass as the visible component, which for much of the last century was thought to be an F-type supergiant star with a mass of approximately 15M[symbol:see text] (M[symbol:see text], mass of the Sun). The high mass-to-luminosity ratio of the hidden object was originally explained by supposing it to be a hyperextended infrared star or, later, a black hole with an accretion disk, although the preferred interpretation was as a disk of opaque material at a temperature of approximately 500 K, tilted to the line of sight and with a central opening. Recent work implies that the system consists of a low-mass (2.2M[symbol:see text]-3.3M[symbol:see text]) visible F-type star, with a disk at 550 K that enshrouds a single B5V-type star. Here we report interferometric images that show the eclipsing body moving in front of the F star. The body is an opaque disk and appears tilted as predicted. Adopting a mass of 5.9M[symbol:see text] for the B star, we derive a mass of approximately (3.6 +/- 0.7)M[symbol:see text] for the F star. The disk mass is dynamically negligible; we estimate it to contain approximately 0.07M[symbol:see text] (M[symbol:see text], mass of the Earth) if it consists purely of dust.