The Circumstellar Disk of HD 141569 Imaged with NICMOS

Coronagraphic imaging with the Near-Infrared Camera and Multiobject Spectrometer on the Hubble Space Telescope reveals a large, approximately 400 AU (4&arcsec;) radius, circumstellar disk around the Herbig Ae/Be star HD 141569. A reflected light image at 1.1 µm shows the disk oriented at a position angle of 356&j0;+/-5&j0; and inclined to our line of sight by 51&j0;+/-3&j0;; the intrinsic scattering function of the dust in the disk makes the side inclined toward us, the eastern side, brighter. The disk flux density peaks 185 AU (1&farcs;85) from the star and falls off to both larger and smaller radii. A region of depleted material, or a gap, in the disk is centered 250 AU from the star. The dynamical effect of one or more planets may be necessary to explain this morphology.