No Arabic abstract
Our goal is to study the physical properties of the circumstellar environment of young stellar objetcs (YSOs). In particular, the determination of the scattering mechanism can help to constrain the optical depth of the disk and/or envelope in the near infrared. We used the IAGPOL imaging polarimeter along with the CamIV infrared camera at the LNA observatory to obtain near infrared polarimetry measurements at the H band of a sample of optically visible YSOs, namely, eleven T Tauri stars and eight Herbig Ae/Be stars. An independent determination of the disk (or jet) orientation was obtained for twelve objects from the literature. The circumstellar optical depth could be then estimated comparing the integrated polarization position angle (PA) with the direction of the major axis of the disk projected in the plane of the sky. In general, optically thin disks have polarization PA perpendicular to the disk plane. In contrast, optically thick disks produce polarization PA parallel to the disks. Among the T Tauri stars, three are consistent with optically thin disks (AS 353A, RY Tau and UY Aur) and five with optically thick disks (V536 Aql, DG Tau, DO Tau, HL Tau and LkHalpha 358). Among the Herbig Ae/Be stars, two stars show evidence of optically thin disk (Hen 3-1191 and VV Ser) and two of optically thick disks (PDS 453 and MWC 297). Our results seem consistent with the fact that optically thick disks at near infrared bands are associated more likely with younger YSOs. Marginal evidence of polarization reversal is found in RY Tau, RY Ori, WW Vul, and UY Aur. On the first three cases this feature can be associated to the UXOR phenomenon. Correlations with the IRAS colours and the spectral index yielded evidence of an evolutionary segregation with the disks tend to be optically thin when they are older.
We report on the results of new simulations of near-infrared (NIR) observations of the Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) counterpart associated with the super-massive black hole at the Galactic Center. The observations have been carried out using the NACO adaptive optics (AO) instrument at the European Southern Observatorys Very Large Telescope and CIAO NIR camera on the Subaru telescope (13 June 2004, 30 July 2005, 1 June 2006, 15 May 2007, 17 May 2007 and 28 May 2008). We used a model of synchrotron emission from relativistic electrons in the inner parts of an accretion disk. The relativistic simulations have been carried out using the Karas-Yaqoob (KY) ray-tracing code. We probe the existence of a correlation between the modulations of the observed flux density light curves and changes in polarimetric data. Furthermore, we confirm that the same correlation is also predicted by the hot spot model. Correlations between intensity and polarimetric parameters of the observed light curves as well as a comparison of predicted and observed light curve features through a pattern recognition algorithm result in the detection of a signature of orbiting matter under the influence of strong gravity. This pattern is detected statistically significant against randomly polarized red noise. Expected results from future observations of VLT interferometry like GRAVITY experiment are also discussed.
A high angular resolution near-infrared polarized-intensity image of the GG Tau A binary system was obtained with the Subaru Telescope. The image shows the circumbinary disk scattering the light from the central binary. The azimuthal profile of the polarized intensity of the circumbinary disk is roughly reproduced by a simple disk model with the Henyey-Greenstein function and the Rayleigh function, indicating small dust grains at the surface of the disk. Combined with a previous observation of the circumbinary disk, our image indicates that the gap structure in the circumbinary disk orbits anti-clockwise, while material in the disk orbit clockwise. We propose a shadow of material located between the central binary and the circumbinary disk. The separations and position angles of the stellar components of the binary in the past 20 years are consistent with the binary orbit with a = 33.4 AU and e = 0.34.
We present H-band polarimetric imagery of UX Tau A taken with HiCIAO/AO188 on the Subaru Telescope. UX Tau A has been classified as a pre-transitional disk object, with a gap structure separating its inner and outer disks. Our imagery taken with the 0.15 (21 AU) radius coronagraphic mask has revealed a strongly polarized circumstellar disk surrounding UX Tau A which extends to 120 AU, at a spatial resolution of 0.1 (14 AU). It is inclined by 46 pm 2 degree as the west side is nearest. Although SED modeling and sub-millimeter imagery suggested the presence of a gap in the disk, with the inner edge of the outer disk estimated to be located at 25 - 30 AU, we detect no evidence of a gap at the limit of our inner working angle (23 AU) at the near-infrared wavelength. We attribute the observed strong polarization (up to 66 %) to light scattering by dust grains in the disk. However, neither polarization models of the circumstellar disk based on Rayleigh scattering nor Mie scattering approximations were consistent with the observed azimuthal profile of the polarization degrees of the disk. Instead, a geometric optics model of the disk with nonspherical grains with the radii of 30 micron meter is consistent with the observed profile. We suggest that the dust grains have experienced frequent collisional coagulations and have grown in the circumstellar disk of UX Tau A.
We present a new method of analysis for determining the surface geometry of five protoplanetary disks observed with near-infrared imaging polarimetry using Subaru-HiCIAO. Using as inputs the observed distribution of polarized intensity (PI), disk inclination, assumed properties for dust scattering, and other reasonable approximations, we calculate a differential equation to derive the surface geometry. This equation is numerically integrated along the distance from the star at a given position angle. We show that, using these approximations, the local maxima in the PI distribution of spiral arms (SAO 206462, MWC 758) and rings (2MASS J16042165-2130284, PDS 70) are associated with local concave-up structures on the disk surface. We also show that the observed presence of an inner gap in scattered light still allows the possibility of a disk surface that is parallel to the light path from the star, or a disk that is shadowed by structures in the inner radii. Our analysis for rings does not show the presence of a vertical inner wall as often assumed in studies of disks with an inner gap. Finally, we summarize the implications of spiral and ring structures as potential signatures of ongoing planet formation.
We present an analysis of near-infrared time-series photometry in J, H, and K bands for about 100 epochs of a 1 square degree region of the Lynds 1003/1004 dark cloud in the Cygnus OB7 region. Augmented by data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), we identify 96 candidate disk bearing young stellar objects (YSOs) in the region. Of these, 30 are clearly Class I or earlier. Using the Wide-Field imaging CAMera (WFCAM) on the United Kingdom InfraRed Telescope (UKIRT), we were able to obtain photometry over three observing seasons, with photometric uncertainty better than 0.05 mag down to J ~17. We study detailed light curves and color trajectories of ~50 of the YSOs in the monitored field. We investigate the variability and periodicity of the YSOs and find the data are consistent with all YSOs being variable in these wavelengths on time scales of a few years. We divide the variability into four observational classes: 1) stars with periodic variability stable over long timescales, 2) variables which exhibit short-lived cyclic behavior, 3) long duration variables, and 4) stochastic variables. Some YSO variability defies simple classification. We can explain much of the observed variability as being due to dynamic and rotational changes in the disk, including an asymmetric or changing blocking fraction, changes to the inner disk hole size, as well as changes to the accretion rate. Overall, we find that the Class I:Class II ratio of the cluster is consistent with an age of < 1Myr, with at least one individual, wildly varying, source ~ 100,000 yr old. We have also discovered a Class II eclipsing binary system with a period of 17.87 days.