239 research outputs found
Modeling the HD32297 Debris Disk with Far-IR Herschel Data
HD32297 is a young A-star (~30 Myr) 112 pc away with a bright edge-on debris
disk that has been resolved in scattered light. We observed the HD32297 debris
disk in the far-infrared and sub-millimeter with the Herschel Space Observatory
PACS and SPIRE instruments, populating the spectral energy distribution (SED)
from 63 to 500{\mu}m. We aimed to determine the composition of dust grains in
the HD32297 disk through SED modeling, using geometrical constraints from the
resolved imaging to break degeneracies inherent in SED modeling. We found the
best fitting SED model has 2 components: an outer ring centered around 110 AU,
seen in the scattered light images, and an inner disk near the habitable zone
of the star. The outer disk appears to be composed of grains > 2{\mu}m
consisting of silicates, carbonaceous material, and water ice with an abundance
ratio of 1:2:3 respectively and 90% porosity. These grains appear consistent
with cometary grains, implying the underlying planetesimal population is
dominated by comet-like bodies. We also discuss the 3.7{\sigma} detection of [C
II] emission at 158{\mu}m with the Herschel PACS Spectrometer, making HD32297
one of only a handful of debris disks with circumstellar gas detected.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journa
Collisional modelling of the AU Microscopii debris disc
The spatially resolved AU Mic debris disc is among the most famous and
best-studied debris discs. We aim at a comprehensive understanding of the dust
production and the dynamics of the disc objects with in depth collisional
modelling including stellar radiative and corpuscular forces. Our models are
compared to a suite of observational data for thermal and scattered light
emission, ranging from the ALMA radial surface brightness profile at 1.3mm to
polarisation measurements in the visible. Most of the data can be reproduced
with a planetesimal belt having an outer edge at around 40au and subsequent
inward transport of dust by stellar winds. A low dynamical excitation of the
planetesimals with eccentricities up to 0.03 is preferred. The radial width of
the planetesimal belt cannot be constrained tightly. Belts that are 5au and
17au wide, as well as a broad 44au-wide belt are consistent with observations.
All models show surface density profiles increasing with distance from the star
as inferred from observations. The best model is achieved by assuming a stellar
mass loss rate that exceeds the solar one by a factor of 50. While the SED and
the shape of the ALMA profile are well reproduced, the models deviate from the
scattered light data more strongly. The observations show a bluer disc colour
and a lower degree of polarisation for projected distances <40au than predicted
by the models. The problem may be mitigated by irregularly-shaped dust grains
which have scattering properties different from the Mie spheres used. From
tests with a handful of selected dust materials, we derive a preference for
mixtures of silicate, carbon, and ice of moderate porosity. We address the
origin of the unresolved central excess emission detected by ALMA and show that
it cannot stem from an additional inner belt alone. Instead, it should derive,
at least partly, from the chromosphere of the central star.Comment: Astronomy and Astrophysics (accepted for publication), 18 pages, 11
figure
Collisional Cascades in Planetesimal Disks I. Stellar Flybys
We use a new multiannulus planetesimal accretion code to investigate the
evolution of a planetesimal disk following a moderately close encounter with a
passing star. The calculations include fragmentation, gas and
Poynting-Robertson drag, and velocity evolution from dynamical friction and
viscous stirring. We assume that the stellar encounter increases planetesimal
velocities to the shattering velocity, initiating a collisional cascade in the
disk. During the early stages of our calculations, erosive collisions damp
particle velocities and produce substantial amounts of dust. For a wide range
of initial conditions and input parameters, the time evolution of the dust
luminosity follows a simple relation, L_d/L_{\star} = L_0 / [alpha +
(t/t_d)^{beta}]. The maximum dust luminosity L_0 and the damping time t_d
depend on the disk mass, with L_0 proportional to M_d and t_d proportional to
M_d^{-1}. For disks with dust masses of 1% to 100% of the `minimum mass solar
nebula' (1--100 earth masses at 30--150 AU), our calculations yield t_d approx
1--10 Myr, alpha approx 1--2, beta = 1, and dust luminosities similar to the
range observed in known `debris disk' systems, L_0 approx 10^{-3} to 10^{-5}.
Less massive disks produce smaller dust luminosities and damp on longer
timescales. Because encounters with field stars are rare, these results imply
that moderately close stellar flybys cannot explain collisional cascades in
debris disk systems with stellar ages of 100 Myr or longer.Comment: 33 pages of text, 12 figures, and an animation. The paper will appear
in the March 2002 issue of the Astronmomical Journal. The animation and a
copy of the paper with full resolution figures are at S. Kenyon's planet
formation website: http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~kenyon/p
Collisional Cascades in Planetesimal Disks II. Embedded Planets
We use a multiannulus planetesimal accretion code to investigate the growth
of icy planets in the outer regions of a planetesimal disk. In a quiescent
minimum mass solar nebula, icy planets grow to sizes of 1000--3000 km on a
timescale t = 15-20 Myr (a/30 AU)^3 where a is the distance from the central
star. Planets form faster in more massive nebulae. Newly-formed planets stir up
leftover planetesimals along their orbits and produce a collisional cascade
where icy planetesimals are slowly ground to dust.
The dusty debris of planet formation has physical characteristics similar to
those observed in beta Pic, HR 4796A, and other debris disks. We derive dust
masses for small particles, 1 mm and smaller, and large particles, 1 mm and
larger, as a function of the initial conditions in the planetesimal disk. The
dust luminosities derived from these masses are similar to those observed in
Vega, HR 4796A, and other debris disks. The calculations produce bright rings
and dark gaps. Bright rings occur where 1000 km and larger planets have
recently formed. Dark gaps are regions where planets have cleared out dust or
shadows where planets have yet to form.Comment: to be published in the Astronomical Journal, January 2004; 7 pages of
text; 17 figures at
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~kenyon/pf/emb-planet-figures.pdf; 2 animations at
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~kenyon/pf/emb-planet-movies.htm
Probing protoplanetary disks with silicate emission: Where is the silicate emission zone?
Recent results indicate that the grain size and crystallinity inferred from observations of silicate features may be correlated with the spectral type of the central star and/or disk geometry. In this paper, we show that grain size, as probed by the 10 μm silicate feature peak-to-continuum and 11.3 to 9.8 μm flux ratios, is inversely proportional to log Lsstarf. These trends can be understood using a simple two-layer disk model for passive irradiated flaring disks, CGPLUS. We find that the radius, R10, of the 10 μm silicate emission zone in the disk goes as (L*/L☉)^0.56, with slight variations depending on disk geometry (flaring angle and inner disk radius). The observed correlations, combined with simulated emission spectra of olivine and pyroxene mixtures, imply a dependence of grain size on luminosity. Combined with the fact that R10 is smaller for less luminous stars, this implies that the apparent grain size of the emitting dust is larger for low-luminosity sources. In contrast, our models suggest that the crystallinity is only marginally affected, because for increasing luminosity, the zone for thermal annealing (assumed to be at T > 800 K) is enlarged by roughly the same factor as the silicate emission zone. The observed crystallinity is affected by disk geometry, however, with increased crystallinity in flat disks. The apparent crystallinity may also increase with grain growth due to a corresponding increase in contrast between crystalline and amorphous silicate emission bands
Modeling the HD 32297 Debris Disk With Far-Infrared Herschel Data
HD 32297 is a young A-star (approx. 30 Myr) 112 pc away with a bright edge-on debris disk that has been resolved in scattered light. We observed the HD 32297 debris disk in the far-infrared and sub-millimeter with the Herschel Space Observatory PACS and SPIRE instruments, populating the spectral energy distribution (SED) from 63 to 500 micron..We aimed to determine the composition of dust grains in the HD 32297 disk through SED modeling, using geometrical constraints from the resolved imaging to break the degeneracies inherent in SED modeling. We found the best fitting SED model has two components: an outer ring centered around 110 AU, seen in the scattered light images, and an inner disk near the habitable zone of the star. The outer disk appears to be composed of grains>2 micron consisting of silicates, carbonaceous material, and water ice with an abundance ratio of 1:2:3 respectively and 90% porosity. These grains appear consistent with cometary grains, implying the underlying planetesimal population is dominated by comet-like bodies. We also discuss the 3.7 sigma detection of [C ii] emission at 158 micron with the Herschel PACS instrument, making HD 32297 one of only a handful of debris disks with circumstellar gas detecte
The Differential Lifetimes of Protostellar Gas and Dust Disks
We construct a protostellar disk model that takes into account the combined
effect of viscous evolution, photoevaporation and the differential radial
motion of dust grains and gas. For T Tauri disks, the lifetimes of dust disks
that are mainly composed of millimeter sized grains are always shorter than the
gas disks' lifetimes, and become similar only when the grains are fluffy
(density < 0.1 g cm^{-3}). If grain growth during the classical T Tauri phase
produces plenty of millimeter sized grains, such grains completely accrete onto
the star in 10^7 yr, before photoevaporation begins to drain the inner gas disk
and the star evolves to the weak line T Tauri phase. In the weak line phase,
only dust-poor gas disks remain at large radii (> 10 AU), without strong signs
of gas accretion nor of millimeter thermal emission from the dust. For Herbig
AeBe stars, the strong photoevaporation clears the inner disks in 10^6 yr,
before the dust grains in the outer disk migrate to the inner region. In this
case, the grains left behind in the outer gas disk accumulate at the disk inner
edge (at 10-100 AU from the star). The dust grains remain there even after the
entire gas disk has been photoevaporated, and form a gas-poor dust ring similar
to that observed around HR 4796A. Hence, depending on the strength of the
stellar ionizing flux, our model predicts opposite types of products around
young stars. For low mass stars with a low photoevaporation rate, dust-poor gas
disks with an inner hole would form, whereas for high mass stars with a high
photoevaporation rate, gas-poor dust rings would form. This prediction should
be examined by observations of gas and dust around weak line T Tauri stars and
evolved Herbig AeBe stars.Comment: Accepted by ApJ, 11 pages, 4 figure
Spatially extended PAHs in circumstellar disks around T Tauri and Herbig Ae stars
Our aim is to determine the presence and location of the emission from
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) towards low and intermediate mass young
stars with disks using large aperture telescopes.
VLT-VISIR N-band spectra and VLT-ISAAC and VLT-NACO L-band spectra of 29
sources are presented, spectrally resolving the 3.3, 8.6, 11.2, and 12.6 micron
PAH features. Spatial-extent profiles of the features and the continuum
emission are derived and used to associate the PAH emission with the disks. The
results are discussed in the context of recent PAH-emission disk models.
The 3.3, 8.6, and 11.2 micron PAH features are detected toward a small
fraction of the T Tauri stars, with typical upper limits between 1E-15 and
5E-17 W/m^2. All 11.2 micron detections from a previous Spitzer survey are
confirmed with (tentative) 3.3 micron detections, and both the 8.6 and the 11.2
micron features are detected in all PAH sources. For 6 detections, the spatial
extent of the PAH features is confined to scales typically smaller than
0.12-0.34'', consistent with the radii of 12-60 AU disks at their distances
(typically 150 pc). For 3 additional sources, WL 16, HD 100546, and TY CrA, one
or more of the PAH features are more extended than the hot dust continuum of
the disk, whereas for Oph IRS 48, the size of the resolved PAH emission is
confirmed as smaller than for the large grains. For HD 100546, the 3.3 micron
emission is confined to a small radial extent of 12 +- 3 AU, most likely
associated with the outer rim of the gap in this disk. Gaps with radii out to
10-30 AU may also affect the observed PAH extent for other sources. For both
Herbig Ae and T Tauri stars, the small measured extents of the 8.6 and 11.2
micron features are consistent with larger (>= 100 carbon atoms) PAHs.Comment: 14 pages, 17 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Herschel PACS Observations and Modeling of Debris Disks in the Tucana-Horologium Association
We present Herschel PACS photometry of seventeen B- to M-type stars in the 30
Myr-old Tucana-Horologium Association. This work is part of the Herschel Open
Time Key Programme "Gas in Protoplanetary Systems" (GASPS). Six of the
seventeen targets were found to have infrared excesses significantly greater
than the expected stellar IR fluxes, including a previously unknown disk around
HD30051. These six debris disks were fitted with single-temperature blackbody
models to estimate the temperatures and abundances of the dust in the systems.
For the five stars that show excess emission in the Herschel PACS photometry
and also have Spitzer IRS spectra, we fit the data with models of optically
thin debris disks with realistic grain properties in order to better estimate
the disk parameters. The model is determined by a set of six parameters:
surface density index, grain size distribution index, minimum and maximum grain
sizes, and the inner and outer radii of the disk. The best fitting parameters
give us constraints on the geometry of the dust in these systems, as well as
lower limits to the total dust masses. The HD105 disk was further constrained
by fitting marginally resolved PACS 70 micron imaging.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, Accepted to Ap
PAH emission from Herbig AeBe stars
We present spectra of a sample of Herbig Ae and Be (HAeBe) stars obtained
with the Infrared Spectrograph on the Spitzer Space Telescope. All but one of
the Herbig stars show emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and
seven of the spectra show PAH emission, but no silicate emission at 10 microns.
The central wavelengths of the 6.2, 7.7--8.2, and 11.3 micron emission features
decrease with stellar temperature, indicating that the PAHs are less
photo-processed in cooler radiation fields. The apparent low level of photo
processing in HAeBe stars, relative to other PAH emission sources, implies that
the PAHs are newly exposed to the UV-optical radiation fields from their host
stars. HAeBe stars show a variety of PAH emission intensities and ionization
fractions, but a narrow range of PAH spectral classifications based on
positions of major PAH feature centers. This may indicate that, regardless of
their locations relative to the stars, the PAH molecules are altered by the
same physical processes in the proto-planetary disks of intermediate-mass
stars. Analysis of the mid-IR spectral energy distributions indicates that our
sample likely includes both radially flared and more flattened/settled disk
systems, but we do not see the expected correlation of overall PAH emission
with disk geometry. We suggest that the strength of PAH emission from HAeBe
stars may depend not only on the degree of radial flaring, but also on the
abundance of PAHs in illuminated regions of the disks and possibly on the
vertical structure of the inner disk as well.Comment: 52 pages, 12 figure
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