1,798 research outputs found
Observation of Infrared and Radio Lines of Molecules toward GL2591 and Comparison to Physical and Chemical Models
We have observed rovibrational transitions of acetylene and HCN near 13
microns in absorption toward GL2591. We also observed rotational lines of CS,
HCN, H2CO, and HCO+. The combined data are analyzed in terms of models with a
cloud envelope with density gradients and discrete regions of hot, dense gas,
probably near the infrared source. The abundance of HCN is enhanced by a factor
of 400 in the gas producing the infrared absorption, in agreement with chemical
models which involve depletion of molecules onto grains and subsequent
sublimation when temperatures are raised.Comment: 34 pages, postscript with 14 postscript figure files, uuencoded
compressed and tar'ed; unpacks self with csh. In case of problems, contact
[email protected]
A high resolution mid-infrared survey of water emission from protoplanetary disks
We present the largest survey of spectrally resolved mid-infrared water
emission to date, with spectra for 11 disks obtained with the Michelle and
TEXES spectrographs on Gemini North. Water emission is detected in 6 of 8 disks
around classical T Tauri stars. Water emission is not detected in the
transitional disks SR 24 N and SR 24 S, in spite of SR 24 S having
pre-transitional disk properties like DoAr 44, which does show water emission
(Salyk et al. 2015). With R~100,000, the TEXES water spectra have the highest
spectral resolution possible at this time, and allow for detailed lineshape
analysis. We find that the mid-IR water emission lines are similar to the
"narrow component" in CO rovibrational emission (Banzatti & Pontoppidan 2015),
consistent with disk radii of a few AU. The emission lines are either single
peaked, or consistent with a double peak. Single-peaked emission lines cannot
be produced with a Keplerian disk model, and may suggest that water
participates in the disk winds proposed to explain single-peaked CO emission
lines (Bast et al. 2011, Pontoppidan et al. 2011). Double-peaked emission lines
can be used to determine the radius at which the line emission luminosity drops
off. For HL Tau, the lower limit on this measured dropoff radius is consistent
with the 13 AU dark ring (ALMA partnership et al. 2015). We also report
variable line/continuum ratios from the disks around DR Tau and RW Aur, which
we attribute to continuum changes and line flux changes, respectively. The
reduction in RW Aur line flux corresponds with an observed dimming at visible
wavelengths (Rodriguez et al. 2013).Comment: To appear in the Astrophysical Journa
Measuring Organic Molecular Emission in Disks with Low Resolution Spitzer Spectroscopy
We explore the extent to which Spitzer IRS spectra taken at low spectral
resolution can be used in quantitative studies of organic molecular emission
from disks surrounding low mass young stars. We use Spitzer IRS spectra taken
in both the high and low resolution modules for the same sources to investigate
whether it is possible to define line indices that can measure trends in the
strength of the molecular features in low resolution data. We find that trends
in HCN emission strength seen in the high resolution data can be recovered in
low resolution data. In examining the factors that influence the HCN emission
strength, we find that the low resolution HCN flux is modestly correlated with
stellar accretion rate and X-ray luminosity. Correlations of this kind are
perhaps expected based on recent observational and theoretical studies of inner
disk atmospheres. Our results demonstrate the potential of using the large
number of low resolution disk spectra that reside in the Spitzer archive to
study the factors that influence the strength of molecular emission from disks.
Such studies would complement results for the much smaller number of
circumstellar disks that have been observed at high resolution with IRS
High-Resolution Near Infrared Spectroscopy of HD 100546: II. Analysis of variable rovibrational CO emission lines
We present observations of rovibrational CO in HD 100546 from four epochs
spanning January 2003 through December 2010. We show that the equivalent widths
of the CO lines vary during this time period with the v=1-0 CO lines
brightening more than the UV fluoresced lines from the higher vibrational
states. While the spectroastrometric signal of the hot band lines remains
constant during this period, the spectroastrometric signal of the v=1--0 lines
varies substantially. At all epochs, the spectroastrometric signals of the UV
fluoresced lines are consistent with the signal one would expect from gas in an
axisymmetric disk. In 2003, the spectroastrometric signal of the v=1-0 P26 line
was symmetric and consistent with emission from an axisymmetric disk. However,
in 2006, there was no spatial offset of the signal detected on the red side of
the profile, and in 2010, the spectroastrometric offset was yet more strongly
reduced toward zero velocity. A model is presented that can explain the
evolution of the equivalent width of the v=1-0 P26 line and its
spectroastrometric signal by adding to the system a compact source of CO
emission that orbits the star near the inner edge of the disk. We hypothesize
that such emission may arise from a circumplanetary disk orbiting a gas giant
planet near the inner edge of the circumstellar disk. We discuss how this idea
can be tested observationally and be distinguished from an alternative
interpretation of random fluctuations in the disk emission.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figure
Detection of Water Vapor in the Thermal Spectrum of the Non-Transiting Hot Jupiter upsilon Andromedae b
The upsilon Andromedae system was the first multi-planet system discovered
orbiting a main sequence star. We describe the detection of water vapor in the
atmosphere of the innermost non-transiting gas giant ups~And~b by treating the
star-planet system as a spectroscopic binary with high-resolution, ground-based
spectroscopy. We resolve the signal of the planet's motion and break the
mass-inclination degeneracy for this non-transiting planet via deep combined
flux observations of the star and the planet. In total, seven epochs of Keck
NIRSPEC band observations, three epochs of Keck NIRSPEC short wavelength
band observations, and three epochs of Keck NIRSPEC long wavelength
band observations of the ups~And~system were obtained. We perform a multi-epoch
cross correlation of the full data set with an atmospheric model. We measure
the radial projection of the Keplerian velocity ( = 55 9 km/s), true
mass ( = 1.7 ), and orbital inclination \big(
= 24 4\big), and determine that the planet's opacity structure
is dominated by water vapor at the probed wavelengths. Dynamical simulations of
the planets in the ups~And~system with these orbital elements for ups~And~b
show that stable, long-term (100 Myr) orbital configurations exist. These
measurements will inform future studies of the stability and evolution of the
ups~And~system, as well as the atmospheric structure and composition of the hot
Jupiter.Comment: Accepted to A
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