458 research outputs found
Spatially Resolved Spectroscopy of Sub-AU-Sized Regions of T Tauri and Herbig Ae/Be Disks
We present spatially resolved near-IR spectroscopic observations of 15 young
stars. Using a grism spectrometer behind the Keck Interferometer, we obtained
an angular resolution of a few milli-arcseconds and a spectral resolution of
230, enabling probes of both gas and dust in the inner disks surrounding the
target stars. We find that the angular size of the near-IR emission typically
increases with wavelength, indicating hot, presumably gaseous material within
the dust sublimation radius. Our data also clearly indicate Brackett-gamma
emission arising from hot hydrogen gas, and suggest the presence of water vapor
and carbon monoxide gas in the inner disks of several objects. This gaseous
emission is more compact than the dust continuum emission in all cases. We
construct simple physical models of the inner disk and fit them to our data to
constrain the spatial distribution and temperature of dust and gas emission
components.Comment: 40 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
High-resolution Spectroscopy of [Ne II] Emission from TW Hya
We present high-resolution echelle spectra of [Ne II] 12.81 micron emission
from the classical T Tauri star (CTTS) TW Hya obtained with MICHELLE on Gemini
North. The line is centered at the stellar radial velocity and has an intrinsic
FWHM of 21\pm 4 km/s. The line width is broader than other narrow emission
lines typically associated with the disk around TW Hya. If formed in a disk,
the line broadening could result from turbulence in a warm disk atmosphere,
Keplerian rotation at an average distance of 0.1 AU from the star, or a
photoevaporative flow from the optically-thin region of the disk. We place
upper limits on the [Ne II] emission flux from the CTTSs DP Tau and BP Tau.Comment: Accepted by ApJ. 18 pages, including 2 figures and 2 table
High Resolution K-band Spectroscopy of MWC 480 and V1331 Cyg
We present high resolution (R=25,000-35,000) K-band spectroscopy of two young
stars, MWC 480 and V1331 Cyg. Earlier spectrally dispersed (R=230)
interferometric observations of MWC 480 indicated the presence of an excess
continuum emission interior to the dust sublimation radius, with a spectral
shape that was interpreted as evidence for hot water emission from the inner
disk of MWC 480. Our spectrum of V1331 Cyg reveals strong emission from CO and
hot water vapor, likely arising in a circumstellar disk. In comparison, our
spectrum of MWC 480 appears mostly featureless. We discuss possible ways in
which strong water emission from MWC 480 might go undetected in our data. If
strong water emission is in fact absent from the inner disk, as our data
suggest, the continuum excess interior to the dust sublimation radius that is
detected in the interferometric data must have another origin. We discuss
possible physical origins for the continuum excess.Comment: 29 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Ap
High Angular Resolution Mid-infrared Imaging of Young Stars in Orion BN/KL
We present Keck LWS images of the Orion BN/KL star forming region obtained in
the first multi-wavelength study to have 0.3-0.5" resolution from 4.7 to 22
microns. The young stellar objects designated infrared source-n and radio
source-I are believed to dominate the BN/KL region. We have detected extended
emission from a probable accretion disk around source-n but infer a stellar
luminosity on the order of only 2000 Lsun. Although source-I is believed to be
more luminous, we do not detect an infrared counterpart even at the longest
wavelengths. However, we resolve the closeby infrared source, IRc2, into an arc
of knots ~1000 AU long at all wavelengths. Although the physical relation of
source-I to IRc2 remains ambiguous, we suggest these sources mark a high
density core (10^7-10^8 pc^-3 over 1000 AU) within the larger BN/KL star
forming cluster. The high density may be a consequence of the core being young
and heavily embedded. We suggest the energetics of the BN/KL region may be
dominated by this cluster core rather than one or two individual sources.Comment: 13 pages including 3 color figures. Accepted to The Astrophysical
Journal Letters pending slight reduction in length. High resolution figures
(jpeg) may be found at
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/~lincoln/keck.bnkl.midir.ppr
Red Quasars and Quasar Evolution: the Case of BALQSO FIRST J155633.8+351758
We present the first near-IR spectroscopy of the z=1.5 radio-loud BALQSO
FIRST J155633.8+351758. Both the Balmer decrement and the slope of the
rest-frame UV-optical continuum independently suggest a modest amount of
extinction along the line of sight to the BLR (E(B-V)~0.5 for SMC-type screen
extinction at the QSO redshift). The implied gas column density along the line
of sight is much less than is implied by the weak X-ray flux of the object,
suggesting that either the BLR and BAL region have a low dust-to-gas ratio, or
that the rest-frame optical light encounters significantly lower mean column
density lines of sight than the X-ray emission. From the rest-frame UV-optical
spectrum, we are able to constrain the stellar mass content of the system.
Comparing the maximal stellar mass with the black hole mass estimated from the
bolometric luminosity of the QSO, we find that the ratio of the black hole to
stellar mass may be comparable to the Magorrian value, which would imply that
the Magorrian relation is already in place at z=1.5. However, multiple factors
favor a much larger black hole to stellar mass ratio. This would imply that if
the Magorrian relation characterizes the late history of QSOs, and the
situation observed for F1556+3517 is typical of the early evolutionary history
of QSOs, central black hole masses develop more rapidly than bulge masses.
[ABRIDGED]Comment: 23 pages, 4 embedded postscript figures; Accepted for publication in
The Astronomical Journal, December 200
- …