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Register a new userLong-wavelength excesses of FU Orionis objects: flared outer disks or infalling envelopes?
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The mid- to far-infrared emission of the outbursting FU Orionis objects has been attributed either to a flared outer disk or to an infalling envelope. We revisit this issue using detailed radiative transfer calculations to model the recent, high signal-to-noise data from the IRS instrument on the {Spitzer Space Telescope}. In the case of FU Ori, we find that a physically-plausible flared disk irradiated by the central accretion disk matches the observations. Building on our previous work, our accretion disk model with outer disk irradiation by the inner disk reproduces the spectral energy distribution between ~4000 angstroms to ~40 microns. Our model is consistent with near-infrared interferometry but there are some inconsistencies with mid-infared interferometric results. Including the outer disk allows us to refine our estimate of the outer radius of the outbursting, high mass accretion rate disk in FU Ori as ~ 0.5 AU, which is a crucial parameter in assessing theories of the FU Orionis phenomenon. We are able to place an upper limit on the mass infall rate of any remnant envelope infall rate to ~ 7e-7 Msun/yr assuming a centrifugal radius of 200 AU. The FUor BBW 76 is also well modelled by a 0.6 AU inner disk and a flared outer disk. However, V1515 Cyg requires an envelope with an outflow cavity to adequately reproduce the IRS spectrum. In contrast with the suggestion by Green et al., we do not require a flattened envelope to match the observations; the inferred cavity shape is qualitatively consistent with typical protostellar envelopes. This variety of dusty structures suggests that the FU Orionis phase can be present at either early or late stages of protostellar evolution.
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We present new K-band long baseline interferometer observations of three young stellar objects of the FU Orionis class, V1057 Cyg, V1515 Cyg and Z CMa-SE, obtained at the Keck Interferometer during its commissioning science period. The interferometer clearly resolves the source of near-infrared emission in all three objects. Using simple geometrical models we derive size scales (0.5-4.5 AU) for this emission. All three objects appear significantly more resolved than expected from simple models of accretion disks tuned to fit the broadband optical and infrared spectro-photometry. We explore variations in the key parameters that are able to lower the predicted visibility amplitudes to the measured levels, and conclude that accretion disks alone do not reproduce the spectral energy distributions and K-band visibilities simultaneously. We conclude that either disk models are inadequate to describe the near-infrared emission, or additional source components are needed. We hypothesize that large scale emission (10s of AU) in the interferometer field of view is responsible for the surprisingly low visibilities. This emission may arise in scattering by large envelopes believed to surround these objects.
FUors are young stellar objects experiencing large optical outbursts due to highly enhanced accretion from the circumstellar disk onto the star. FUors are often surrounded by massive envelopes, which play a significant role in the outburst mechanism. Conversely, the subsequent eruptions might gradually clear up the obscuring envelope material and drive the protostar on its way to become a disk-only T Tauri star. Here we present an APEX $^{12}$CO and $^{13}$CO survey of eight southern and equatorial FUors. We measure the mass of the gaseous material surrounding our targets. We locate the source of the CO emission and derive physical parameters for the envelopes and outflows, where detected. Our results support the evolutionary scenario where FUors represent a transition phase from envelope-surrounded protostars to classical T Tauri stars.
We present the results of a single dish survey toward 95 VeLLOs in optically thick (HCN 1-0) and thin ($rm N_2H^+$ 1-0) lines performed for the purpose of understanding the physical processes of inward motions in the envelopes of the VeLLOs and characterizing their true nature. The normalized velocity differences ($delta V_{HCN}$) between the peak velocities of the two lines were derived for 41 VeLLOs detected in both lines. The $delta V$ distribution of these VeLLOs is found to be significantly skewed to the blue, indicating the dominance of infalling motions in their envelopes. The infall speeds were derived for 15 infall candidates by using the HILL5 radiative transfer model. The speeds were in the range of 0.03 $rm km~s^{-1}$ to 0.3 $rm km~s^{-1}$, with a median value of 0.16 $rm km~s^{-1}$, being consistent with the gravitational free-fall speeds from pressure-free envelopes. The mass infall rates calculated from the infall speeds are mostly of the order of $10^{-6} M_{odot}~yr^{-1}$ with a median value of $rm 3.4 pm 1.5 times 10^{-6} M_{odot}~yr^{-1}$. These are found to be also consistent with the values predicted with the inside-out collapse model and show a fairly good correlation with the internal luminosities of the VeLLOs. This again indicates that the infall motions observed toward the VeLLOs are likely to be due to the gravitational infall motions in their envelopes. Our study suggests that most of the VeLLOs are potentially faint protostars while two of the VeLLOs could possibly be proto-brown dwarf candidates.
We present the results of a photometric monitoring campaign of three well studied FU Orionis systems (FU Orionis, V1057 Cygni and V1515 Cygni) undertaken at Maidanak Observatory between 1981 and 2003. When combined with photometric data in the literature, this database provides a valuable resource for searching for short timescale variability - both periodic and aperiodic - as well as for studying the secular evolution of these systems. In the case of V1057 Cyg (which is the system exhibiting the largest changes in brightness since it went into outburst) we compare the photometric data with time dependent models. We show that prior to the end of the `plateau stage in 1996, the evolution of V1057 Cyg in the $V-(B-V)$ colour-magnitude diagram is well represented by disc instability models in which the outburst is triggered by some agent - such as an orbiting planet - in the inner disc. Following the end of the plateau phase in 1996, the dimming and irregular variations are consistent with occultation of the source by a variable dust screen, which has previously been interpreted in terms of dust condensation events in the observed disc wind. Here we instead suggest that this effect results from the interaction between the wind and an infalling dusty envelope, the existence of this envelope having been previously invoked in order to explain the mid infrared emissio of FU Orionis systems. We discuss how this model may explain some of the photometric and spectroscopic characteristics of FU Orionis systems in general.
By using the ALFA adaptive optics system at the 3.6m telescope of the Calar Alto Observatory we detected a faint red star in the apparent vicinity of FU Ori, the prototype of the FUor outburst stars. Independent confirmation of the detection is obtained from archival PUEO/CFHT images. The separation between the companion candidate and FU Ori is 0.50 and their brightness contrast is around 4 magnitudes. We discuss the possible nature of the newly detected star based on near-infrared photometry and its proper motion relative to FU Ori. The photometric data are consistent with a nearby late-type main sequence star, a background giant star, and a pre-main sequence star. On the basis of the proper motion and the stellar surface density in the direction towards FU Ori, we argue that the probabilities of the first two options are very low.
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