No Arabic abstract
The disks around some Herbig Be stars have been observed to be more compact than the expected dust sublimation radius for such objects, with highly refractory dust grains and optically thick gas emission having been proposed as possible explanations for this phenomenon. Our aim is to search for direct evidence for the presence of hot gas inside of the expected dust sublimation radius of MWC147. By combining VLTI/AMBER spectro-interferometry (R=12,000) with CRIRES spectroscopy (R=100,000) we can both spectrally and spatially resolve the Br-gamma line-emitting gas around MWC147. Our interferometric visibility modelling of MWC147 indicates the presence of a compact continuum disk with a close to face-on orientation. We model the continuum with an inclined Gaussian, as well as a ring with a radius of 0.60mas (0.39au) which is well within the expected dust sublimation radius of 1.52au. We detect no significant change in the measured visibilities across the Br-gamma line, indicating that the line-emitting gas is located in the same region as the continuum-emitting disk. We fit our AMBER spectro-interferometry data with a kinematic model of a disk in Keplerian rotation, with both the line-emitting and continuum-emitting components of the disk originating from the same compact region close to the central star. The presence of line-emitting gas in the same region as the K-band continuum supports the interpretation that the K-band continuum traces an optically-thick gas disk. Our spatially and spectrally resolved observations of MWC147 reveal that the K-band continuum and Br-gamma emission both originate from a similar compact region, with Br-gamma emitted from the accretion disk or disk wind region and exhibiting a rotational velocity profile. We conclude that we detect the presence of a compact, gaseous accretion disk in Keplerian rotation around MWC147.
We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) line and continuum observations at 1.2mm with ~0.3 resolution that uncover a Keplerian-like disk around the forming O-type star AFGL 4176. The continuum emission from the disk at 1.21 mm (source mm1) has a deconvolved size of 870+/-110 AU x 330+/-300 AU and arises from a structure ~8 M_sun in mass, calculated assuming a dust temperature of 190 K. The first-moment maps, pixel-to-pixel line modeling, assuming local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE), and position-velocity diagrams of the CH3CN J=13-12 K-line emission all show a velocity gradient along the major axis of the source, coupled with an increase in velocity at small radii, consistent with Keplerian-like rotation. The LTE line modeling shows that where CH3CN J=13-12 is excited, the temperatures in the disk range from ~70 to at least 300 K and that the H2 column density peaks at 2.8x10^24 cm^-2. In addition, we present Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX) 12CO observations which show a large-scale outflow from AFGL 4176 perpendicular to the major axis of mm1, supporting the disk interpretation. Finally, we present a radiative transfer model of a Keplerian disk surrounding an O7 star, with a disk mass and radius of 12 M_sun and 2000 AU, that reproduces the line and continuum data, further supporting our conclusion that our observations have uncovered a Keplerian disk around an O-type star.
So far, only one rotating disk has been clearly identified and studied in AGB or post-AGB objects (in the Red Rectangle), by means of observations with high spectral and spatial resolution. However, disks are thought to play a key role in the late stellar evolution and are suspected to surround many evolved stars. We aim to extend our knowledge on these structures. We present interferometric observations of CO J=2-1 emission from the nebula surrounding the post-AGB star AC Her, a source belonging to a class of objects that share properties with the Red Rectangle and show hints of Keplerian disks. We clearly detect the Keplerian dynamics of a second disk orbiting an evolved star. Its main properties (size, temperature, central mass) are derived from direct interpretation of the data and model fitting. With this we confirm that there are disks orbiting the stars of this relatively wide class of post-AGB objects
The nucleus of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 1068 is believed to host a supermassive black hole. Evidence for the presence of a massive central object is provided by water maser emission, which displays a linear pattern in the sky, suggestive of a rotating disk. The rotating disk hypothesis is further strengthened by the declining shape of the derived rotation curve. Similar maser emission from NGC 4258 has led to a reliable estimate of the mass of the central black hole, because in this case the rotation curve is Keplerian. In the case of NGC 1068 the rotation curve traced by the water maser is non-Keplerian. In this paper we provide an interpretation of the non-Keplerian rotation in NGC 1068 by means of a self-gravitating accretion disk model. We obtain a good fit to the available data and derive a black hole mass M_{bh}=(8.0pm 0.3) 10^6M_{sun}. The resulting disk mass is comparable to the black hole mass. As an interesting by-product of our fitting procedure, we are able to estimate the viscosity parameter, which turns out to be alphaapprox 10^{-2}, in line with some theoretical expectations.
We present SubMillimeter-Array observations of a Keplerian disk around the Class I protobinary system L1551 NE in 335 GHz continuum emission and submillimeter line emission in 13CO (J=3-2) and C18O (J=3-2) at a resolution of ~120 x 80 AU. The 335-GHz dust-continuum image shows a strong central peak closely coincident with the binary protostars and likely corresponding to circumstellar disks, surrounded by a ~600 x 300 AU feature elongated approximately perpendicular to the [Fe II] jet from the southern protostellar component suggestive of a circumbinary disk. The 13CO and C18O images confirm that the circumbinary continuum feature is indeed a rotating disk; furthermore, the C18O channel maps can be well modeled by a geometrically-thin disk exhibiting Keplerian rotation. We estimate a mass for the circumbinary disk of ~0.03-0.12 Msun, compared with an enclosed mass of ~0.8 Msun that is dominated by the protobinary system. Compared with several other Class I protostars known to exhibit Keplerian disks, L1551 NE has the lowest bolometric temperature (~91 K), highest envelope mass (~0.39 Msun), and the lowest ratio in stellar mass to envelope + disk + stellar mass (~0.65). L1551 NE may therefore be the youngest protostellar object so far found to exhibit a Keplerian disk. Our observations present firm evidence that Keplerian disks around binary protostellar systems, ``Keplerian circumbinary disks, can exist. We speculate that tidal effects from binary companions could transport angular momenta toward the inner edge of the circumbinary disk and create the Keplerian circumbinary disk.
We present Submillimeter Array observations of the Herbig Ae star HD169142 in 1.3 millimeter continuum emission and 12CO J=2-1 line emission at 1.5 arcsecond resolution that reveal a circumstellar disk. The continuum emission is centered on the star position and resolved, and provides a mass estimate of about 0.02 solar masses for the disk. The CO images show patterns in position and velocity that are well matched by a disk in Keplerian rotation with low inclination to the line-of-sight. We use radiative transfer calculations based on a flared, passive disk model to constrain the disk parameters by comparison to the spectral line emission. The derived disk radius is 235 AU, and the inclination is 13 degrees. The model also necessitates modest depletion of the CO molecules, similar to that found in Keplerian disks around T Tauri stars.