We present new , near-infrared ( 1.1–2.4 \micron ) high-contrast imaging of the bright debris disk surrounding HIP 79977 with the Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics system ( SCExAO ) coupled with the CHARIS integral field spectrograph .
SCExAO/CHARIS resolves the disk down to smaller angular separations of ( 0 \farcs 11 ; r \sim 14 au ) and at a higher significance than previously achieved at the same wavelengths .
The disk exhibits a marginally significant east-west brightness asymmetry in H band that requires confirmation .
Geometrical modeling suggests a nearly edge-on disk viewed at a position angle of \sim 114.6 \arcdeg east of north .
The disk is best-fit by scattered-light models assuming strongly forward-scattering grains ( g \sim 0.5–0.65 ) confined to a torus with a peak density at r _ { 0 } \sim 53–75 au .
We find that a shallow outer density power law of \alpha _ { out } = -1– -3 and flare index of \beta = 1 are preferred .
Other disk parameters ( e.g .
inner density power law and vertical scale height ) are more poorly constrained .
The disk has a slightly blue intrinsic color and its profile is broadly consistent with predictions from birth ring models applied to other debris disks .
While HIP 79977 ’ s disk appears to be more strongly forward-scattering than most resolved disks surrounding 5–30 Myr-old stars , this difference may be due to observational biases favoring forward-scattering models for inclined disks vs. lower inclination , ostensibly neutral-scattering disks like HR 4796A ’ s .
Deeper , higher signal-to-noise SCExAO/CHARIS data can better constrain the disk ’ s dust composition .