CO ro-vibrational lines in HD100546: A search for disc asymmetries and the role of fluorescence

We have studied the emission of CO ro-vibrational lines in the disc around the Herbig Be star HD100546 with the final goal of using these lines as a diagnostic to understand inner disc structure in the context of planet formation. High-resolution IR spectra of CO ro-vibrational emission at eight different position angles were taken with CRIRES at the VLT. From these spectra flux tables, CO ro-vibrational line profiles, and population diagrams were produced. We have investigated variations in the line profile shapes and line strengths as a function of slit position angle. We used the thermochemical disc modelling code ProDiMo based on the chemistry, radiation field, and temperature structure of a previously published model for HD100546. Comparing observations and the model, we investigated the possibility of disc asymmetries, the excitation mechanism (UV fluorescence), the geometry, and physical conditions of the inner disc. The observed CO ro-vibrational lines are largely emitted from the inner rim of the outer disc at 10-13 AU. The line shapes are similar for all v levels and line fluxes from all vibrational levels vary only within one order of magnitude. All line profile asymmetries and variations can be explained with a symmetric disc model to which a slit correction and pointing offset is applied. Because the angular size of the CO emitting region (10-13 AU) and the slit width are comparable the line profiles are very sensitive to the placing of the slit. The model reproduces the line shapes and the fluxes of the v=1-0 lines as well as the spatial extent of the CO ro-vibrational emission. It does not reproduce the observed band ratios of 0.5-0.2 with higher vibrational bands. We find that lower gas volume densities at the surface of the inner rim of the outer disc can make the fluorescence pumping more effcient and reproduce the observed band ratios.Comment: 20 pages, 21 figure

A proposed new diagnostic for Herbig disc geometry : FWHM versus J of CO ro-vibrational lines

I.K.,W.F.T., and P.W. acknowledge funding from the EU FP7-2011 under Grant Agreement No. 284405. G.v.d.p. acknowledges support from the Millennium Science Initiative (Chilean Ministry of Economy) through grant Nucleus P10-022-F and also acknowledges financial support provided by FONDECYT following grant 3140393.Aims. The CO ro-vibrational lines observed from Herbig group II discs are often seen to be broad, while the same lines observed from group I discs are often narrow. This difference is not well understood. In this paper we explore the underlying cause for this difference and provide a pathway for a better understanding of the geometry and structure of the inner discs around Herbig Ae/Be stars. Methods. High spectral resolution infrared spectra of CO ro-vibrational emission from six Herbig Ae/Be candidate stars were taken with the CRyogenic high-resolution InfraRed Echelle Spectrograph (CRIRES) at the Very Large Telescope (VLT). From these spectra, we produce individual and co-added CO ro-vibrational line profiles. We investigate line profile shape differences, and we explore the full width at half maximum (FWHM) variations with J quantum number in the context of disc geometry. Furthermore, we put our new sources into the context of earlier observed sources to study a large sample. For comparison, we also investigate the FWHM variations with J of modelled CO ro-vibrational lines from two typical disc geometries produced with the thermochemical disc modelling code ProDiMo. Results. For our new observations of CO ro-vibrational lines, we find that the FWHM of individual lines are in the range of 10–60 km s-1. We find both narrow and broad single-peaked emission lines, but only Hen 2-80 displays double-peaked emission lines. For HD 250550, the FWHM of the CO lines increases with J value, indicating a radially extended emitting region, while Hen 2-80 shows a constant FWHM versus J behaviour, indicating a narrow emitting region. This qualitatively agrees with the two different modelled disc geometries. Comparing dust and gas inner disc geometries (inferred by the spectral energy distribution (SED) and CO ro-vibrational emission) for the expanded sample of observed Herbig discs, we find no clear correspondence between the SED (spectral energy distribution) groups of the sources and their inner CO radius. Conclusions. The FWHM versus J is a potential new gas diagnostic for the inner disc with, for example, a constant FWHM versus J indicating the presence of a large gas hole or gap. Models and observations both indicate the potential of this new diagnostic. Our extended sample does not fully support the previous trend where group I discs have CO ro-vibrational emission lines with small FWHM. Instead, our CO ro-vibrational data from a handful of sources indicates different inner disc geometries for the gas and dust of these sources.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Receptor crosslinking: a general method to trigger internalization and lysosomal targeting of therapeutic receptor: ligand complexes

A major unmet clinical need is a universal method for subcellular targeting of bioactive molecules to lysosomes. Delivery to this organelle enables either degradation of oncogenic receptors that are overexpressed in cancers, or release of prodrugs from antibody–drug conjugates. Here, we describe a general method that uses receptor crosslinking to trigger endocytosis and subsequently redirect trafficking of receptor:cargo complexes from their expected route, to lysosomes. By incubation of plasma membrane receptors with biotinylated cargo and subsequent addition of streptavidin to crosslink receptor:cargo–biotin complexes, we achieved rapid and selective lysosomal targeting of transferrin, an anti-MHC class I antibody, and the clinically approved anti-Her2 antibody trastuzumab. These three protein ligands each target a receptor with a distinct cellular function and intracellular trafficking profile. Importantly, we confirmed that crosslinking of trastuzumab increased lysosomal degradation of its cognate oncogenic receptor Her2 in breast cancer cell lines SKBR3 and BT474. These data suggest that crosslinking could be exploited for a wide range of target receptors, for navigating therapeutics through the endolysosomal pathway, for significant therapeutic benefit

The protoplanetary system HD 100546 in H α polarized light from SPHERE/ZIMPOL: A bar-like structure across the disk gap?

Context. HD 100546 is one of the few known pre-main-sequence stars that may host a planetary system in its disk. Aims. This work aims to contribute to our understanding of HD 100546 by analyzing new polarimetric images with high spatial resolution. Methods. Using VLT/SPHERE/ZIMPOL with two filters in Hα and the adjacent continuum, we have probed the disk gap and the surface layers of the outer disk, covering a region 3σ) of a ~20 au bar-like structure that crosses the gap through the central region of HD 100546. Conclusions. In the absence of additional data, it is tentatively suggested that the bar could be dust dragged by infalling gas that radially flows from the outer disk to the inner region. This could represent an exceptional case in which a small-scale radial inflow is observed in a single system. If this scenario is confirmed, it could explain the presence of atomic gas in the inner disk that would otherwise accrete on to the central star on a timescale of a few months/years, as previously indicated from spectro-interferometric data, and could be related with additional (undetected) planets

Photometry and models of selected main belt asteroids IX. Introducing interactive service for asteroid models (ISAM)

International audienceContext. The shapes and spin states of asteroids observed with photometric techniques can be reconstructed using the lightcurve inversion method. The resultant models can then be confirmed or exploited further by other techniques, such as adaptive optics, radar, thermal infrared, stellar occultations, or space probe imaging. Aims. During our ongoing work to increase the set of asteroids with known spin and shape parameters, there appeared a need for displaying the model plane-of-sky orientations for specific epochs to compare models from different techniques. It would also be instructive to be able to track how the complex lightcurves are produced by various asteroid shapes. Methods. Basing our analysis on an extensive photometric observational dataset, we obtained eight asteroid models with the convex lightcurve inversion method. To enable comparison of the photometric models with those from other observing/modelling techniques, we created an on-line service where we allow the inversion models to be orientated interactively. Results. Our sample of objects is quite representative, containing both relatively fast and slow rotators with highly and lowly inclined spin axes. With this work, we increase the sample of asteroid spin and shape models based on disk-integrated photometry to over 200. Three of the shape models obtained here are confirmed by the stellar occultation data; this also allowed independent determinations of their sizes to be made. Conclusions. The ISAM service can be widely exploited for past and future asteroid observations with various, complementary techniques and for asteroid dimension determination

VizieR Online Data Catalog: Photometry of 8 main belt asteroids (Marciniak+, 2012)

VizieR On-line Data Catalog: J/A+A/545/A131The files contain asteroid brightness and geometry for corresponding epochs. These files were used for obtaining shape models and spin states of the asteroids. Individual lightcurves within a file are separated by an empty line, all lightcurves are relative. (9 data files)