CO Line Emission and Absorption from the HL Tauri Disk-Where Is All the Dust?

We present high-resolution infrared spectra of HL Tau, a heavily embedded young star. The spectra exhibit broad emission lines of 12CO gas-phase molecules, as well as narrow absorption lines of 12CO, 13CO, and C18O. The broad emission lines of vibrationally excited 12CO are dominated by the hot (T ~ 1500 K) inner disk. The narrow absorption lines of CO are found to originate from the circumstellar gas at a temperature of ~100 K. The 12CO column density for this cooler material [(7.5 ± 0.2) × 1018 cm-2] indicates a large column of absorbing gas along the line of sight. In dense interstellar clouds, this column density of CO gas is associated with AV ~ 52 mag. However, the extinction toward this source (AV ~ 23) suggests that there is less dust along the line of sight than inferred from the CO absorption data. We discuss three possibilities for the apparent paucity of dust along the line of sight through the flared disk: (1) the dust extinction has been underestimated because of differences in circumstellar grain properties, such as grain agglomeration; (2) the effect of scattering has been underestimated and the actual extinction is much higher; or (3) the line of sight through the disk is probing a gas-rich, dust-depleted region, possibly due to the stratification of gas and dust in a preplanetary disk. Through the analysis of hot rovibrational 12CO line emission, we place strong constraints on grain growth and thermal infrared dust opacity, and separately constrain the enhancement of carbon-bearing species in the neighboring molecular envelope. The physical stratification of gas and dust in the HL Tau disk remains a viable explanation for the anomalous gas-to-dust ratio seen in this system. The measured radial velocity dispersion in the outer disk is consistent with the thermal line widths of the absorption lines, leaving only a small turbulent component to provide gas-dust mixing

Interstellar H3+ Line Absorption toward LkHα 101

We present a detection of three lines of the H+3 ion in the near-infrared spectrum of the Herbig Be star LkHalpha 101. H+3 is the principal initiator of gas-phase chemistry in interstellar clouds and can be used to constrain the ionization rate or the path length through interstellar material along the line of sight. Essentially all of the observed H+3 column of (2.2+/-0.3)×1014 cm-2 toward LkHalpha 101 originates in the same dense, dark cloud; less than 1 mag of the ~11 total magnitudes of visual extinction is attributable to diffuse material. Constraints on the density [1×104cm-

Where is the best site on Earth? Domes A, B, C and F, and Ridges A and B

The Antarctic plateau contains the best sites on earth for many forms of astronomy, but none of the existing bases was selected with astronomy as the primary motivation. In this article, we try to systematically compare the merits of potential observatory sites.We include South Pole, Domes A, C, and F, and also Ridge B (running northeast from Dome A), and what we call "Ridge A" (running southwest from Dome A). Our analysis combines satellite data, published results, and atmospheric models, to compare the boundary layer, weather, aurorae, airglow, precipitable water vapor, thermal sky emission, surface temperature, and the free atmosphere, at each site. We find that all Antarctic sites are likely to be compromised for optical work by airglow and aurorae. Of the sites with existing bases, Dome A is easily the best overall; but we find that Ridge A offers an even better site. We also find that Dome F is a remarkably good site. Dome C is less good as a thermal infrared or terahertz site, but would be able to take advantage of a predicted "OH hole" over Antarctica during spring.Comment: Revised version. 16 pages, 21 figures (22 in first version). Submitted to PASP 16/05/09, accepted 13/07/09; published 20/08/0

CO Line Emission and Absorption from the HL Tau Disk: Where is all the dust?

We present high-resolution infrared spectra of HL Tau, a heavily embedded young star. The spectra exhibit broad emission lines of hot CO gas as well as narrow absorption lines of cold CO gas. The column density for this cooler material (7.5+/-0.2 x 10^18 cm-2) indicates a large column of absorbing gas along the line of sight. In dense interstellar clouds, this column density of CO gas is associated with Av~52 magnitudes. However, the extinction toward this source (Av~23) suggests that there is less dust along the line of sight than inferred from the CO absorption data. We discuss three possibilities for the apparent paucity of dust along the line of sight through the flared disk: 1) the dust extinction has been underestimated due to differences in circumstellar grain properties, such as grain agglomeration; 2) the effect of scattering has been underestimated and the actual extinction is much higher; or (3) the line of sight through the disk is probing a gas-rich, dust-depleted region, possibly due to the stratification of gas and dust in a pre-planetary disk.Comment: To be published in The Astrophysical Journa

Dust Stratification in Young Circumstellar Disks

We present high-resolution infrared spectra of four YSOs (T Tau N, T Tau S, RNO 91, and HL Tau). The spectra exhibit narrow absorption lines of 12CO, 13CO, and C18O as well as broad emission lines of gas phase12CO. The narrow absorption lines of CO are shown to originate from the colder circumstellar gas. We find that the line of sight gas column densities resulting from the CO absorption lines are much higher than expected for the measured extinction for each source and suggest the gas to dust ratio is measuring the dust settling and/or grain coagulation in these extended disks. We provide a model of turbulence, dust settling and grain growth to explain the results. The techniques presented here allow us to provide some observationally-motivated bounds on accretion disk alpha in protostellar systems

Data Processing of the Stratospheric Terahertz Observatory-2 [CII] Survey

The second flight of the Stratospheric Terahertz Observatory (STO-2) was a balloon mission to survey parts of the Galactic Plane at [CII] transition at 1.9 THz. STO-2 surveyed approximately 2.5 deg2 of the Galactic Plane at a spatial resolution of 1'. The STO-2 data suffer significant system drifts that are only partially addressed by the observing cadence. A slightly altered calibration scheme is presented to address these drifts. We show how it was possible to extract calibrated data from STO-2 scans and, based on the work presented here, make recommendations for the future GUSTO mission