905 research outputs found
FUV and X-ray irradiated protoplanetary disks: a grid of models I. The disk structure
Context. Planets are thought to eventually form from the mostly gaseous (~99%
of the mass) disks around young stars. The density structure and chemical
composition of protoplanetary disks are affected by the incident radiation
field at optical, FUV, and X-ray wavelengths, as well as by the dust
properties.
Aims. The effect of FUV and X-rays on the disk structure and the gas chemical
composition are investigated. This work forms the basis of a second paper,
which discusses the impact on diagnostic lines of, e.g., C+, O, H2O, and Ne+
observed with facilities such as Spitzer and Herschel.
Methods. A grid of 240 models is computed in which the X-ray and FUV
luminosity, minimum grain size, dust size distribution, and surface density
distribution are varied in a systematic way. The hydrostatic structure and the
thermo-chemical structure are calculated using ProDiMo.
Results. The abundance structure of neutral oxygen is stable to changes in
the X-ray and FUV luminosity, and the emission lines will thus be useful
tracers of the disk mass and temperature. The C+ abundance distribution is
sensitive to both X-rays and FUV. The radial column density profile shows two
peaks, one at the inner rim and a second one at a radius r=5-10 AU. Ne+ and
other heavy elements have a very strong response to X-rays, and the column
density in the inner disk increases by two orders of magnitude from the lowest
(LX = 1e29 erg/s) to the highest considered X-ray flux (LX = 1e32 erg/s). FUV
confines the Ne+ ionized region to areas closer to the star at low X-ray
luminosities (LX = 1e29 erg/s). H2O abundances are enhanced by X-rays due to
higher temperatures in the inner disk and higher ionization fractions in the
outer disk. The line fluxes and profiles are affected by the effects on these
species, thus providing diagnostic value in the study of FUV and X-ray
irradiated disks around T Tauri stars. (abridged)Comment: 47 pages, accepted by Astronomy and Astrophysics, a high resolution
version of the paper is located at
http://www.astro.rug.nl/~meijerink/disk_paperI_xrays.pd
Uncertainties in water chemistry in disks: An application to TW Hya
Context. This paper discusses the sensitivity of water lines to chemical
processes and radiative transfer for the protoplanetary disk around TW Hya. The
study focuses on the Herschel spectral range in the context of new line
detections with the PACS instrument from the Gas in Protoplanetary Systems
project (GASPS). Aims. The paper presents an overview of the chemistry in the
main water reservoirs in the disk around TW Hya. It discusses the limitations
in the interpretation of observed water line fluxes. Methods. ... (abbreviated)
Results. We report new line detections of p-H2O (3_22-2_11) at 89.99 micron and
CO J=18-17 at 144.78 micron for the disk around TW Hya. Disk modeling shows
that the far-IR fine structure lines ([OI], [CII]) and molecular submm lines
are very robust to uncertainties in the chemistry, while the water line fluxes
can change by factors of a few. The water lines are optically thick,
sub-thermally excited and can couple to the background continuum radiation
field. The low-excitation water lines are also sensitive to uncertainties in
the collision rates, e.g. with neutral hydrogen. The gas temperature plays an
important role for the [OI] fine structure line fluxes, the water line fluxes
originating from the inner disk as well as the high excitation CO, CH+ and OH
lines. Conclusions. Due to their sensitivity on chemical input data and
radiative transfer, water lines have to be used cautiously for understanding
details of the disk structure. Water lines covering a wide range of excitation
energies provide access to the various gas phase water reservoirs (inside and
outside the snow line) in protoplanetary disks and thus provide important
information on where gas-phase water is potentially located. Experimental
and/or theoretical collision rates for H2O with atomic hydrogen are needed to
diminish uncertainties from water line radiative transfer.Comment: accepted for publication in A&
[OI] disk emission in the Taurus star forming region
The structure of protoplanetary disks is thought to be linked to the
temperature and chemistry of their dust and gas. Whether the disk is flat or
flaring depends on the amount of radiation that it absorbs at a given radius,
and on the efficiency with which this is converted into thermal energy. The
understanding of these heating and cooling processes is crucial to provide a
reliable disk structure for the interpretation of dust continuum emission and
gas line fluxes. Especially in the upper layers of the disk, where gas and dust
are thermally decoupled, the infrared line emission is strictly related to the
gas heating/cooling processes. We aim to study the thermal properties of the
disk in the oxygen line emission region, and to investigate the relative
importance of X-ray (1-120 Angstrom) and far-UV radiation (FUV, 912-2070
Angstrom) for the heating balance there. We use [OI] 63 micron line fluxes
observed in a sample of protoplanetary disks of the Taurus/Auriga star forming
region and compare it to the model predictions presented in our previous work.
The data were obtained with the PACS instrument on board the Herschel Space
Observatory as part of the Herschel Open Time Key Program GASPS (GAS in
Protoplanetary diskS), published in Howard et al. (2013). Our theoretical grid
of disk models can reproduce the [OI] absolute fluxes and predict a correlation
between [OI] and the sum Lx+Lfuv. The data show no correlation between the [OI]
line flux and the X-ray luminosity, the FUV luminosity or their sum. The data
show that the FUV or X-ray radiation has no notable impact on the region where
the [OI] line is formed. This is in contrast with what is predicted from our
models. Possible explanations are that the disks in Taurus are less flaring
than the hydrostatic models predict, and/or that other disk structure aspects
that were left unchanged in our models are important. ..abridged..Comment: 9 pages, accepted for publication in A&
Excitation of the molecular gas in the nuclear region of M82
We present high resolution HIFI spectroscopy of the nucleus of the
archetypical starburst galaxy M82. Six 12CO lines, 2 13CO lines and 4
fine-structure lines are detected. Besides showing the effects of the overall
velocity structure of the nuclear region, the line profiles also indicate the
presence of multiple components with different optical depths, temperatures and
densities in the observing beam. The data have been interpreted using a grid of
PDR models. It is found that the majority of the molecular gas is in low
density (n=10^3.5 cm^-3) clouds, with column densities of N_H=10^21.5 cm^-2 and
a relatively low UV radiation field (GO = 10^2). The remaining gas is
predominantly found in clouds with higher densities (n=10^5 cm^-3) and
radiation fields (GO = 10^2.75), but somewhat lower column densities
(N_H=10^21.2 cm^-2). The highest J CO lines are dominated by a small (1%
relative surface filling) component, with an even higher density (n=10^6 cm^-3)
and UV field (GO = 10^3.25). These results show the strength of multi-component
modeling for the interpretation of the integrated properties of galaxies.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A Letter
Black hole accretion and star formation as drivers of gas excitation and chemistry in Mrk231
We present a full high resolution SPIRE FTS spectrum of the nearby
ultraluminous infrared galaxy Mrk231. In total 25 lines are detected, including
CO J=5-4 through J=13-12, 7 rotational lines of H2O, 3 of OH+ and one line each
of H2O+, CH+, and HF. We find that the excitation of the CO rotational levels
up to J=8 can be accounted for by UV radiation from star formation. However,
the approximately flat luminosity distribution of the CO lines over the
rotational ladder above J=8 requires the presence of a separate source of
excitation for the highest CO lines. We explore X-ray heating by the accreting
supermassive black hole in Mrk231 as a source of excitation for these lines,
and find that it can reproduce the observed luminosities. We also consider a
model with dense gas in a strong UV radiation field to produce the highest CO
lines, but find that this model strongly overpredicts the hot dust mass in
Mrk231. Our favoured model consists of a star forming disk of radius 560 pc,
containing clumps of dense gas exposed to strong UV radiation, dominating the
emission of CO lines up to J=8. X-rays from the accreting supermassive black
hole in Mrk231 dominate the excitation and chemistry of the inner disk out to a
radius of 160 pc, consistent with the X-ray power of the AGN in Mrk231. The
extraordinary luminosity of the OH+ and H2O+ lines reveals the signature of
X-ray driven excitation and chemistry in this region.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysics Special Issue on Herschel first result
Probing stellar accretion with mid-infrared hydrogen lines
In this paper we investigate the origin of the mid-infrared (IR) hydrogen
recombination lines for a sample of 114 disks in different evolutionary stages
(full, transitional and debris disks) collected from the {\it Spitzer} archive.
We focus on the two brighter {H~{\sc i}} lines observed in the {\it Spitzer}
spectra, the {H~{\sc i}}(7-6) at 12.37m and the {H~{\sc i}}(9-7) at
11.32m. We detect the {H~{\sc i}}(7-6) line in 46 objects, and the {H~{\sc
i}}(9-7) in 11. We compare these lines with the other most common gas line
detected in {\it Spitzer} spectra, the {[Ne~{\sc iii}]} at 12.81m. We
argue that it is unlikely that the {H~{\sc i}} emission originates from the
photoevaporating upper surface layers of the disk, as has been found for the
{[Ne~{\sc iii}]} lines toward low-accreting stars. Using the {H~{\sc
i}}(9-7)/{H~{\sc i}}(7-6) line ratios we find these gas lines are likely
probing gas with hydrogen column densities of 10-10~cm.
The subsample of objects surrounded by full and transitional disks show a
positive correlation between the accretion luminosity and the {H~{\sc i}} line
luminosity. These two results suggest that the observed mid-IR {H~{\sc i}}
lines trace gas accreting onto the star in the same way as other hydrogen
recombination lines at shorter wavelengths. A pure chromospheric origin of
these lines can be excluded for the vast majority of full and transitional
disks.We report for the first time the detection of the {H~{\sc i}}(7-6) line
in eight young (< 20~Myr) debris disks. A pure chromospheric origin cannot be
ruled out in these objects. If the {H~{\sc i}}(7-6) line traces accretion in
these older systems, as in the case of full and transitional disks, the
strength of the emission implies accretion rates lower than
10M/yr. We discuss some advantages of extending accretion
indicators to longer wavelengths
Rotational Line Emission from Water in Protoplanetary Disks
Circumstellar disks provide the material reservoir for the growth of young
stars and for planet formation. We combine a high-level radiative transfer
program with a thermal-chemical model of a typical T Tauri star disk to
investigate the diagnostic potential of the far-infrared lines of water for
probing disk structure. We discuss the observability of pure rotational H2O
lines with the Herschel Space Observatory, specifically the residual gas where
water is mainly frozen out. We find that measuring both the line profile of the
ground 110-101 ortho-H2O transition and the ratio of this line to the 312-303
and 221-212 line can provide information on the gas phase water between 5-100
AU, but not on the snow line which is expected to occur at smaller radii.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Accepted by ApJ
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