The rise and fall of debris disks: MIPS observations of h and chi Persei and the evolution of mid-IR emission from planet formation

We describe Spitzer MIPS observations of the double cluster, h and chi Persei, covering a similar to 0.6 deg(2) area surrounding the cores of both clusters. The data are combined with IRAC and 2MASS data to investigate similar to 616 sources from 1.25-24 mu m. We use the long-baseline K-s - [24] color to identify two populations with IR excess indicative of circumstellar material: Be stars with 24 mu m excess from optically thin free-free emission, and 17 fainter sources (J similar to 14-15) with [24] excess consistent with a circumstellar disk. The frequency of IR excess for the fainter sources increases from 4.5 to 24 mu m. The IR excess is likely due to debris from the planet formation process. The wavelength-dependent behavior is consistent with an inside-out clearing of circumstellar disks. A comparison of the 24 mu m excess population in h and chi Per sources with results for other clusters shows that 24 mu m emission from debris disks rises'' from 5 to 10 Myr, peaks at similar to 10-15 Myr, and then falls'' from similar to 15-20 Myr to 1 Gyr.