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Register a new userPhoto-reverberation Mapping of a Protoplanetary Accretion Disk around a T Tauri Star
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Theoretical models and spectroscopic observations of newborn stars suggest that protoplantary disks have an inner wall at a distance set by the disk interaction with the star. Around T Tauri stars, the size of this disk hole is expected to be on a 0.1-AU scale that is unresolved by current adaptive optics imaging, though some model-dependent constraints have been obtained by near-infrared interferometry. Here we report the first measurement of the inner disk wall around a solar-mass young stellar object, YLW 16B in the {rho} Ophiuchi star-forming region, by detecting the light travel time of the variable radiation from the stellar surface to the disk. Consistent time lags were detected on two nights, when the time series in H (1.6 {mu}m) and K (2.2 {mu}m) bands were synchronized while the 4.5 {mu}m emission lagged by 74.5 +/- 3.2 seconds. Considering the nearly edge-on geometry of the disk, the inner rim should be 0.084 AU from the protostar on average, with an error of order 0.01 AU. This size is likely larger than the range of magnetospheric truncations, and consistent with an optically and geometrically thick disk front at the dust sublimation radius at ~1500 K. The widths of the cross-correlation functions between the data in different wavebands place possible new constraints on the geometry of the disk.
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Context: T Tauri stars have X-ray luminosities ranging from L_X = 10^28-10^32 erg/s. These luminosities are similar to UV luminosities (L_UV 10^30-10^31 erg/s) and therefore X-rays are expected to affect the physics and chemistry of the upper layers of their surrounding protoplanetary disks. Aim: The effects and importance of X-rays on the chemical and hydrostatic structure of protoplanetary disks are investigated, species tracing X-ray irradiation (for L_X >= 10^29 erg/s) are identified and predictions for [OI], [CII] and [NII] fine structure line fluxes are provided. Methods: We have implemented X-ray physics and chemistry into the chemo-physical disk code ProDiMo. We include Coulomb heating and H2 ionization as heating processes and primary and secondary ionization due to X-rays in the chemistry. Results: X-rays heat up the gas causing it to expand in the optically thin surface layers. Neutral molecular species are not much affected in their abundance and spatial distribution, but charged species such as N+, OH+, H2O+ and H3O+ show enhanced abundances in the disk surface. Conclusions: Coulomb heating by X-rays changes the vertical structure of the disk, yielding temperatures of ~ 8000 K out to distances of 50 AU. The chemical structure is altered by the high electron abundance in the gas in the disk surface, causing an efficient ion-molecule chemistry. The products of this, OH+, H2O+ and H3O+, are of great interest for observations of low-mass young stellar objects with the Herschel Space Observatory. [OI] (at 63 and 145 mic) and [CII] (at 158 mic) fine structure emission are only affected for L_X > 10^30 erg/s.
We present the Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) spectrum of SR20, a 5--10 AU binary T Tauri system in the $rho$ Ophiuchi star forming region. The spectrum has features consistent with the presence of a disk; however, the continuum slope is steeper than the $lambda^{-4/3}$ slope of an infinite geometrically thin, optically thick disk, indicating that the disk is outwardly truncated. Comparison with photometry from the literature shows a large increase in the mid-infrared flux from 1993 to 1996. We model the spectral energy distribution and IRS spectrum with a wall + optically thick irradiated disk, yielding an outer radius of 0.39$_{+0.03}^{-0.01}$ AU, much smaller than predicted by models of binary orbits. Using a two temperature $chi^2$ minimization model to fit the dust composition of the IRS spectrum, we find the disk has experienced significant grain growth: its spectrum is well-fit using opacities of grains larger than 1 $mu$m. We conclude that the system experienced a significant gravitational perturbation in the 1990s.
We report the results of an extended spectropolarimetric and photometric monitoring of the weak-line T Tauri star TAP 26, carried out within the MaTYSSE programme with the ESPaDOnS spectropolarimeter at the 3.6 m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. Applying Zeeman-Doppler Imaging to our observations, concentrating in 2015 November and 2016 January and spanning 72 d in total, 16 d in 2015 November and 13 d in 2016 January, we reconstruct surface brightness and magnetic field maps for both epochs and demonstrate that both distributions exhibit temporal evolution not explained by differential rotation alone. We report the detection of a hot Jupiter (hJ) around TAP 26 using three different methods, two using Zeeman-Doppler Imaging (ZDI) and one Gaussian-Process Regression (GPR), with a false-alarm probability smaller than 6.10^-4. However, as a result of the aliasing related to the observing window, the orbital period cannot be uniquely determined; the orbital period with highest likelihood is 10.79 +/- 0.14 d followed by 8.99 +/- 0.09 d. Assuming the most likely period, and that the planet orbits in the stellar equatorial plane, we obtain that the planet has a minimum mass M.sin(i) of 1.66 +/- 0.31 M_Jup and orbits at 0.0968 +/- 0.0032 au from its host star. This new detection suggests that disc type II migration is efficient at generating newborn hJs, and that hJs may be more frequent around young T Tauri stars than around mature stars (or that the MaTYSSE sample is biased towards hJ-hosting stars).
We report the discovery of a dwarf protoplanetary disk around the star XZ Tau B that shows all the features of a classical transitional disk but on a much smaller scale. The disk has been imaged with the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA), revealing that its dust emission has a quite small radius of ~ 3.4 au and presents a central cavity of ~ 1.3 au in radius that we attribute to clearing by a compact system of orbiting (proto)planets. Given the very small radii involved, evolution is expected to be much faster in this disk (observable changes in a few months) than in classical disks (observable changes requiring decades) and easy to monitor with observations in the near future. From our modeling we estimate that the mass of the disk is large enough to form a compact planetary system.
We present a detailed analysis of new ALMA observations of the disk around the T-Tauri star HD 143006, which at 46 mas (7.6 au) resolution reveal new substructures in the 1.25 mm continuum emission. The disk resolves into a series of concentric rings and gaps together with a bright arc exterior to the rings that resembles hydrodynamics simulations of a vortex, and a bridge-like feature connecting the two innermost rings. Although our $^{12}$CO observations at similar spatial resolution do not show obvious substructure, they reveal an inner disk depleted of CO emission. From the continuum emission and the CO velocity field we find that the innermost ring has a higher inclination than the outermost rings and the arc. This is evidence for either a small ($sim8^{circ}$) or moderate ($sim41^{circ}$) misalignment between the inner and outer disk, depending on the specific orientation of the near/far sides of the inner/outer disk. We compare the observed substructures in the ALMA observations with recent scattered light data from VLT/SPHERE of this object. In particular, the location of narrow shadow lanes in the SPHERE image combined with pressure scale height estimates, favor a large misalignment of about $41^{circ}$. We discuss our findings in the context of a dust-trapping vortex, planet-carved gaps, and a misaligned inner disk due to the presence of an inclined companion to HD 143006.
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