Disques protoplanétaires autour d'étoiles de masse intermédiare: apport de l'imagerie en infrarouge moyen.

The accrued efficiency of the instruments in many wavelengths has allowed to show that most young stellar objects were surrounded by circumstellar matter distributed in a disk. Direct imaging of such systems is very difficult because of their narrow angular size and their weak luminosity in comparison with the star. Nowadays, 50 \% of low-mass pre-main sequance stars, i.e. T Tauri stars, are surrounded by a disk. This proportion is less obvious for intermediate-mass stars, like Herbig Ae stars, that are less numerous and whose direct disk detection is more difficult.Until now, only the interpretation of the Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) of such objects allows to have access to the geometry of the disk. But the solutions are degenerated and several parameters fit the same SED. It is essential to have direct images of the objects, the only evidence of the presence of disks. This PhD allows to show that mid-infrared imaging could rise a part of the degeneracy of the disk's parameters linked to the fit of the SED for several objects and gives contraints on the minimum external radius and inclination of the disk. We present a new observation mode with VISIR, the mid-infrared imager and spectrometer on the VLT (ESO, Chile): the so-called BURST mode. This mode allows to reach the diffraction limit of the telescope. Thanks to mid-infrared imaging with this instrument, we were able, for the first time, to have access to the geometry of a disk (flared structure) around a massive star that was, until now, only deduced from the SED modelling.La performance accrue des instruments dans une vaste gamme de longueur d'onde a montré qu'une grande partie des étoiles jeunes étaient entourées de matière sans doute répartie dans un disque. La détection de tels systèmes par imagerie directe est difficile du fait de la faible taille angulaire de ces objets, ainsi que de leur faible luminosité en comparaison avec l'étoile. Il semble aujourd'hui que près de 50 \% d'étoiles pré-séquence principale de faible masse, dites étoiles T Tauri, soient entourées d'un disque. Cette proportion est beaucoup moins évidente pour les étoiles plus massives, dites Herbig Ae, du fait de leur faible nombre et du faible nombre de détections directes.Jusqu'à présent, seule l'interprétation de la distribution spectrale d'énergie (SED) de ces objets permettait d'inférer la structure géométrique des disques autour des étoiles Herbig Ae. Les modèles sont fortement dégénerés et il est primordial d'obtenir des images, seules preuves directes de la présence ou non de disque. Cette thèse a permis de mettre en évidence l'apport de l'imagerie en infrarouge moyen pour lever une partie de la dégénérescence liée à l'interprétation de la SED et mieux contraindre, pour plusieurs objets, les paramètres des disques, comme le rayon externe minimal ou l'inclinaison. De plus, nous présentons un nouveau mode d'observation avec VISIR, l'instrument pour les observations en infrarouge moyen au VLT (ESO, Chili): le mode BURST. Ce mode permet d'atteindre la limite de résolution spatiale déterminée par la diffraction. Grâce à l'imagerie en infrarouge faite avec cet instrument, cette thèse a permis de déterminer, pour la première fois, la géométrie (structure évasée) d'un disque autour d'une étoile massive inférée au préalable par l'interprétation des SEDs

Disques protoplanétaires autour d'étoiles de masse intermédiaire (apport de l'imagerie en infrarouge moyen)

La performance accrue des instruments dans une vaste gamme de longueur d'onde a montré qu'une grande partie des étoiles jeunes étaient entourées de matière sans doute répartie dans un disque. La détection de tels systèmes par imagerie directe est difficile du fait de la faible taille angulaire de ces objets, ainsi que de leur faible luminosité. Il semble aujourd'hui que près de 50 % d'étoiles pré-séquence principale de faible masse (T Tauri) soient entourées d'un disque alors que c'est moins évidente pour les étoiles plus massives, dites Herbig Ae, du fait du faible nombre de détections directes.Jusqu'alors, seule l'interprétation de la distribution spectrale d'énergie (SED) de ces objets permettait d'inférer la structure géométrique des disques autour des étoiles Herbig Ae. Les modèles sont fortement dégénerés et il est primordial d'obtenir des images, seules preuves directes de la présence ou non de disque. Cette thèse a permis de mettre en évidence l'apport de l'imagerie en infrarouge moyen pour lever une partie de la dégénérescence liée à l'interprétation de la SED et mieux contraindre, pour plusieurs objets, les paramètres des disques, comme le rayon externe minimal ou l'inclinaison. De plus, nous présentons un nouveau mode d'observation avec VISIR, l'instrument pour les observations en infrarouge moyen au VLT: le mode BURST. Ce mode permet d'atteindre la limite de résolution spatiale déterminée par la diffraction. Grâce à l'imagerie en infrarouge faite avec cet instrument, cette thèse a permis de déterminer, pour la première fois, la géométrie (structure évasée) d'un disque autour d'une étoile massive inférée au préalablepar l'interprétation des SEDs.The accrued efficiency of the instruments in many wavelengths has allowed to show that most young stellar objects were surrounded by circumstellar matter distributed in a disk. Direct imaging of such systems is very difficult because of their narrow angular size and their weak luminosity in comparison with the star.Nowadays, 50 % of low-mass pre-main sequance stars, i.e. T Tauri stars, are surrounded by a disk. This proportion is less obvious for intermediate-mass stars, like Herbig Ae stars, that are less numerous and whose direct disk detection is more difficult.Until now, only the interpretation of the Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) of such objects allows to have access to the geometry of the disk. But the solutions are degenerated and several parameters fit the same SED. It is essential to have direct images of the objects, the only evidence of the presence of disks. This PhD allows to show that mid-infrared imaging could rise a part of the degeneracy of the disk's parameters linked to the fit of the SED for several objects and gives contraints on the minimum external radius and inclination of the disk. We present a new observation mode with VISIR, the mid-infrared imager and spectrometer on the VLT (ESO, Chile): the so-called BURST mode. This mode allows to reach the diffraction limit of the telescope. Thanks to mid-infrared imaging with this instrument, we were able, for the first time, to have access to the geometry of a disk (flared structure) around a massive star that was, until now, only deduced from the SED modelling.ORSAY-PARIS 11-BU Sciences (914712101) / SudocSudocFranceF

Anatomy of a Flaring Proto-Planetary Disk Around a Young Intermediate-Mass Star

International audienceAlthough planets are being discovered around stars more massive than the Sun, information about the proto-planetary disks where such planets have built up is sparse. We have imaged mid-infrared emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at the surface of the disk surrounding the young intermediate-mass star HD 97048 and characterized the disk. The disk is in an early stage of evolution, as indicated by its large content of dust and its hydrostatic flared geometry, indicative of the presence of a large amount of gas that is well mixed with dust and gravitationally stable. The disk is a precursor of debris disks found around more-evolved A stars such as β-Pictoris and provides the rare opportunity to witness the conditions prevailing before (or during) planet formation

Early 5‐HT6 receptor blockade prevents symptom onset in a model of adolescent cannabis abuse

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Early 5-HT6 receptor blockade prevents symptom onset in a model of adolescent cannabis abuse

Cannabis abuse during adolescence confers an increased risk for developing later in life cognitive deficits reminiscent of those observed in schizophrenia, suggesting common pathological mechanisms that remain poorly characterized. In line with previous findings that revealed a role of 5-HT6 receptor-operated mTOR activation in cognitive deficits of rodent developmental models of schizophrenia, we show that chronic administration of ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to mice during adolescence induces a long-lasting activation of mTOR in prefrontal cortex (PFC), alterations of excitatory/inhibitory balance, intrinsic properties of layer V pyramidal neurons, and long-term depression, as well as cognitive deficits in adulthood. All are prevented by administrating a 5-HT6 receptor antagonist or rapamycin, during adolescence. In contrast, they are still present 2 weeks after the same treatments delivered at the adult stage. Collectively, these findings suggest a role of 5-HT6 receptor-operated mTOR signaling in abnormalities of cortical network wiring elicited by THC at a critical period of PFC maturation and highlight the potential of 5-HT6 receptor antagonists as early therapy to prevent cognitive symptom onset in adolescent cannabis abusers

SEIS: Insight’s Seismic Experiment for Internal Structure of Mars

By the end of 2018, 42 years after the landing of the two Viking seismometers on Mars, InSight will deploy onto Mars’ surface the SEIS (Seismic Experiment for Internal Structure) instrument; a six-axes seismometer equipped with both a long-period three-axes Very Broad Band (VBB) instrument and a three-axes short-period (SP) instrument. These six sensors will cover a broad range of the seismic bandwidth, from 0.01 Hz to 50 Hz, with possible extension to longer periods. Data will be transmitted in the form of three continuous VBB components at 2 sample per second (sps), an estimation of the short period energy content from the SP at 1 sps and a continuous compound VBB/SP vertical axis at 10 sps. The continuous streams will be augmented by requested event data with sample rates from 20 to 100 sps. SEIS will improve upon the existing resolution of Viking’s Mars seismic monitoring by a factor of ∼2500 at 1 Hz and ∼200000 at 0.1 Hz. An additional major improvement is that, contrary to Viking, the seismometers will be deployed via a robotic arm directly onto Mars’ surface and will be protected against temperature and wind by highly efficient thermal and wind shielding. Based on existing knowledge of Mars, it is reasonable to infer a moment magnitude detection threshold of ∼3 at 40∘ epicentral distance and a potential to detect several tens of quakes and about five impacts per year. In this paper, we first describe the science goals of the experiment and the rationale used to define its requirements. We then provide a detailed description of the hardware, from the sensors to the deployment system and associated performance, including transfer functions of the seismic sensors and temperature sensors. We conclude by describing the experiment ground segment, including data processing services, outreach and education networks and provide a description of the format to be used for future data distribution