2005ApJ...622L..65S

We report the detection of spatially extended mid-infrared emission around the luminous embedded star IRc9 in OMC-1, as seen in 8.8, 11.7, and 18.3 µm images obtained with the Thermal-Region Camera and Spectrograph on Gemini South. The extended emission is asymmetric, and the morphology is reminiscent of warm dust disks around other young stars. The putative disk has a radius of roughly 1".5 (700 AU) and a likely dust mass of almost 10 M_⊕. The infrared spectral energy distribution of IRc9 indicates a total luminosity of ∼100 L_☉, implying that it will become an early A-type star when it reaches the main sequence. Thus, the candidate disk around IRc9 may be a young analog of the planetary debris disks around Vega-like stars and the disks of Herbig Ae stars, and may provide a laboratory in which to study the earliest phases of planet formation. A disk around IRc9 may also add weight to the hypothesis that an enhanced T Tauri-like wind from this star has influenced the molecular outflow from the OMC-1 core.