5,465 research outputs found
Accretion Disks Around Young Objects. III. Grain Growth
We present detailed models of irradiated T Tauri disks including dust grain
growth with power-law size distributions. The models assume complete mixing
between dust and gas and solve for the vertical disk structure
self-consistentlyincluding the heating effects of stellar irradiation as well
as local viscous heating. For a given total dust mass, grain growth is found to
decrease the vertical height of the surface where the optical depth to the
stellar radiation becomes unit and thus the local irradiation heating, while
increasing the disk emission at mm and sub-mm wavelengths. The resulting disk
models are less geometrically thick than our previous models assuming
interstellar medium dust, and agree better with observed spectral energy
distributions and images of edge-on disks, like HK Tau/c and HH 30. The
implications of models with grain growth for determining disk masses from
long-wavelength emission are considered.Comment: 29 pages, including 11 figures and 1 table, APJ accepte
Accretion Disks Around Young Objects. II. Tests of Well-Mixed Models with Ism Dust
We construct detailed vertical structure models of irradiated accretion disks
around T Tauri stars with interstellar medium dust uniformly mixed with gas.
The dependence of the structure and emission properties on mass accretion rate,
viscosity parameter, and disk radius is explored using these models. The
theoretical spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and images for all
inclinations are compared with observations of the entire population of
Classical T Tauri stars (CTTS) and Class I objects in Taurus. In particular, we
find that the median near-infrared fluxes can be explained within the errors
with the most recent values for the median accretion rates for CTTS. We further
show that the majority of the Class I sources in Taurus cannot be Class II
sources viewed edge-on because they are too luminous and their colors would be
consistent with disks seen only in a narrow range of inclinations. Our models
appear to be too geometrically thick at large radii, as suggested by: (a)
larger far-infrared disk emission than in the typical SEDs of T Tauri stars;
(b) wider dark dust lanes in the model images than in the images of HH30 and HK
Tau/c; and (c) larger predicted number of stars extincted by edge-on disks than
consistent with current surveys. The large thickness of the model is a
consequence of the assumption that dust and gas are well-mixed, suggesting that
some degree of dust settling may be required to explain the observations.Comment: 41 pages, 13 figures, accepted in Ap
Viscous diffusion and photoevaporation of stellar disks
The evolution of a stellar disk under the influence of viscous evolution,
photoevaporation from the central source, and photoevaporation by external
stars is studied. We take the typical parameters of TTSs and the Trapezium
Cluster conditions. The photoionizing flux from the central source is assumed
to arise both from the quiescent star and accretion shocks at the base of
stellar magnetospheric columns, along which material from the disk accretes.
The accretion flux is calculated self-consistently from the accretion mass loss
rate. We find that the disk cannot be entirely removed using only viscous
evolution and photoionization from the disk-star accretion shock. However, when
FUV photoevaporation by external massive stars is included the disk is removed
in 10^6 -10^7yr; and when EUV photoevaporation by external massive stars is
included the disk is removed in 10^5 - 10^6yr.
An intriguing feature of photoevaporation by the central star is the
formation of a gap in the disk at late stages of the disk evolution. As the gap
starts forming, viscous spreading and photoevaporation work in resonance.
There is no gap formation for disks nearby external massive stars because the
outer annuli are quickly removed by the dominant EUV flux. On the other hand,
at larger, more typical distances (d>>0.03pc) from the external stars the flux
is FUV dominated. As a consequence, the disk is efficiently evaporated at two
different locations; forming a gap during the last stages of the disk
evolution.Comment: 27 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Unveiling the Structure of Pre-Transitional Disks
In the past few years, several disks with inner holes that are empty of small
dust grains have been detected and are known as transitional disks. Recently,
Spitzer has identified a new class of "pre-transitional disks" with gaps; these
objects have an optically thick inner disk separated from an optically thick
outer disk by an optically thin disk gap. A near-infrared spectrum provided the
first confirmation of a gap in the pre-transitional disk of LkCa 15 by
verifying that the near-infrared excess emission in this object was due to an
optically thick inner disk. Here we investigate the difference between the
nature of the inner regions of transitional and pre-transitional disks using
the same veiling-based technique to extract the near-infrared excess emission
above the stellar photosphere. We show that the near-infrared excess emission
of the previously identified pre-transitional disks of LkCa 15 and UX Tau A in
Taurus as well as the newly identified pre-transitional disk of ROX 44 in
Ophiuchus can be fit with an inner disk wall located at the dust destruction
radius. We also model the broad-band SEDs of these objects, taking into account
the effect of shadowing by the inner disk on the outer disk, considering the
finite size of the star. The near-infrared excess continua of these three
pre-transitional disks, which can be explained by optically thick inner disks,
are significantly different from that of the transitional disks of GM Aur,
whose near-infrared excess continuum can be reproduced by emission from
sub-micron-sized optically thin dust, and DM Tau, whose near-infrared spectrum
is consistent with a disk hole that is relatively free of small dust. The
structure of pre-transitional disks may be a sign of young planets forming in
these disks and future studies of pre-transitional disks will provide
constraints to aid in theoretical modeling of planet formation.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ on May 10, 2010; 29 page
Cronoestratigrafía (Palinología) del Triásico Sudpirenaico y del Pirineo Vasco-Cantábrico
This paper presients a general chronostratigraphy of the south Pyrenean Triassic basi:d on palynological studies. The Triassic in Les Nogueres-Cadí and the Basque Country areas is divided into the Buntsandstein, Muschelkalk and Keuper facies and the Isábena Forrnation. The Conglomeratic, sandstone and lutitic Unit of the Buntsandstein in the Puerto dr Otxondo (Basque Country) presents Stellapollenites thiergartii and together with the absence of Praecirculina granifer, suggests a Lower-middle Anisian age. The Lutitic Unit of the Buntsandstein in Igüem, Sant Sebastia de Buseu and Baga (Les Nogueres-Cadí) presenits Illinites kosankeii and Stellapollenites thiergartii, and the absence of Praecirculina granifer, indicates a Lower Anisian age. The Muschelkailk in Hostalets (Les Nogueres) presents Camerosporites secatus, suggesting an upper Ladinian age. The transit zone between the Muschelkaik and the Keuper facies in Odkn (Cadí) shows a palynological assemblage with Patinasporites densus, Partitisporites quadruplicis and Staurosaccites quadrifidus, indicating a Camain age, possibly Middie-upper Camian. The lower part of the Keuper in Noguera de Tor and Adons, in the Les Nogueres area, presents a palynological assemblage with Classopollis, Granuloperculatipollis rudis, Ovalipollis ovalis, Praecirculina granifer and Triadispora. The abundance of Classopollis and the presence of Granul~p~erculatipollrius dis suggest a Norian age, possibly lower-middle. The upper part of the Keuper in La Nou (Pedraforca) is Rhaetian in age due to the presence of cf. Deltaidospora and cf. Taeniasporites. The base of tlie Isábena Formation in Noves de Segre presents Corollina zwolinskae and Cerebropollenites pseudomassulae, indicating a Rhaetian age. The palynological studies, together with the forarninifera and conodonta data, deteimine the existence of important stratigraphicc hiatuses in the south Pyrenean Triassic supercycle
Short Gas Dissipation Timescales: Diskless Stars in Taurus and Chamaeleon I
We present an Advanced Camera for Surveys/ Solar Blind Channel
far-ultraviolet (FUV) study of \h2 gas in 12 weak T Tauri stars in nearby
star-forming regions. The sample consists of sources which have no evidence of
inner disk dust. Our new FUV spectra show that in addition to the dust, the gas
is depleted from the inner disk. This sample is combined with a larger FUV
sample of accretors and non-accretors with ages between 1 and 100 Myr, showing
that as early as 1--3 Myr, systems both with and without gas are found.
Possible mechanisms for depleting gas quickly include viscous evolution, planet
formation and photoevaporation by stellar radiation fields. Since these
mechanisms alone cannot account for the lack of gas at 1--3 Myr, it is likely
that the initial conditions (e.g. initial disk mass or core angular momentum)
contribute to the variety of disks observed at any age. We estimate the angular
momentum of a cloud needed for most of the mass to fall very close to the
central object and compare this to models of the expected distribution of
angular momenta. Up to 20% of cloud cores have low enough angular momenta to
form disks with the mass close to the star, which would then accrete quickly;
this percentage is similar to the fraction of diskless stars in the youngest
star forming regions. With our sample, we characterize the chromospheric
contribution to the FUV luminosity and find that saturates at
.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, Accepted to ApJ
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