Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userWeak-line T Tauri Star Disks I. Initial Spitzer Results from the Cores to Disks Legacy Project
108
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
Using the Spitzer Space Telescope, we have observed 90 weak-line and classical T Tauri stars in the vicinity of the Ophiuchus, Lupus, Chamaeleon, and Taurus star-forming regions as part of the Cores to Disks (c2d) Spitzer Legacy project. In addition to the Spitzer data, we have obtained contemporaneous optical photometry to assist in constructing spectral energy distributions. These objects were specifically chosen as solar-type young stars with low levels of H alpha emission, strong X-ray emission, and lithium absorption i.e. weak-line T Tauri stars, most of which were undetected in the mid-to-far IR by the IRAS survey. Weak-line T Tauri stars are potentially extremely important objects in determining the timescale over which disk evolution may take place. Our objective is to determine whether these young stars are diskless or have remnant disks which are below the detection threshold of previous infrared missions. We find that only 5/83 weak-line T Tauri stars have detectable excess emission between 3.6 and 70 micron which would indicate the presence of dust from the inner few tenths of an AU out to the planet-forming regions a few tens of AU from the star. Of these sources, two have small excesses at 24 microns consistent with optically thin disks; the others have optically thick disks already detected by previous IR surveys. All of the seven classical T Tauri stars show excess emission at 24 and 70 micron, although their properties vary at the shorter wavelengths. Our initial results show that disks are rare among young stars selected for their weak H alpha emission.
rate research
Read More
We present 3.6 to 70 {mu}m Spitzer photometry of 154 weak-line T Tauri stars (WTTS) in the Chamaeleon, Lupus, Ophiuchus and Taurus star formation regions, all of which are within 200 pc of the Sun. For a comparative study, we also include 33 classical T Tauri stars (CTTS) which are located in the same star forming regions. Spitzer sensitivities allow us to robustly detect the photosphere in the IRAC bands (3.6 to 8 {mu}m) and the 24 {mu}m MIPS band. In the 70 {mu}m MIPS band, we are able to detect dust emission brighter than roughly 40 times the photosphere. These observations represent the most sensitive WTTS survey in the mid to far infrared to date, and reveal the frequency of outer disks (r = 3-50 AU) around WTTS. The 70 {mu}m photometry for half the c2d WTTS sample (the on-cloud objects), which were not included in the earlier papers in this series, Padgett et al. (2006) and Cieza et al. (2007), are presented here for the first time. We find a disk frequency of 19% for on-cloud WTTS, but just 5% for off- cloud WTTS, similar to the value reported in the earlier works. WTTS exhibit spectral energy distributions (SEDs) that are quite diverse, spanning the range from optically thick to optically thin disks. Most disks become more tenuous than Ldisk/L* = 2 x 10^-3 in 2 Myr, and more tenuous than Ldisk/L* = 5 x 10^-4 in 4 Myr.
Mid-infrared molecular line emission detected with the Spitzer Space Telescope is often interpreted using slab models. However, we need to understand the mid-infrared line emission in 2D disk models, such that we gain information about from where the lines are being emitted and under which conditions, such that we gain information about number densities, temperatures, and optical depths in both the radial and vertical directions. In this paper, we introduce a series of 2D thermochemical models of a prototypical T Tauri protoplanetary disk, in order to examine how sensitive the line-emitting regions are to changes in the UV and X-ray fluxes, the disk flaring angle, dust settling, and the dust-to-gas ratio. These all affect the heating of the inner disk, and thus can affect the mid-infrared spectral lines. Using the ProDiMo and FLiTs codes, we produce a series of 2D thermochemical disk models. We find that there is often a significant difference between the gas and dust temperatures in the line emitting regions, and we illustrate that the size of the line emitting regions is relatively robust against changes in the stellar and disk parameters (namely, the UV and X-ray fluxes, the flaring angle, and dust settling). These results demonstrate the potential for localized variations in the line-emitting region to greatly affect the resulting spectra and line fluxes, and the necessity of allowing for such variations in our models.
Infrared ~5--35 um spectra for 40 solar-mass T Tauri stars and 7 intermediate-mass Herbig Ae stars with circumstellar disks were obtained using the Spitzer Space Telescope as part of the c2d IRS survey. This work complements prior spectroscopic studies of silicate infrared emission from disks, which were focused on intermediate-mass stars, with observations of solar-mass stars limited primarily to the 10 um region. The observed 10 and 20 um silicate feature strengths/shapes are consistent with source-to-source variations in grain size. A large fraction of the features are weak and flat, consistent with um-sized grains indicating fast grain growth (from 0.1--1.0 um in radius). In addition, approximately half of the T Tauri star spectra show crystalline silicate features near 28 and 33 um indicating significant processing when compared to interstellar grains. A few sources show large 10-to-20 um ratios and require even larger grains emitting at 20 um than at 10 um. This size difference may arise from the difference in the depth into the disk probed by the two silicate emission bands in disks where dust settling has occurred. The 10 um feature strength vs. shape trend is not correlated with age or Halpha equivalent width, suggesting that some amount of turbulent mixing and regeneration of small grains is occurring. The strength vs. shape trend is related to spectral type, however, with M stars showing significantly flatter 10 um features (larger grain sizes) than A/B stars. The connection between spectral type and grain size is interpreted in terms of the variation in the silicate emission radius as a function of stellar luminosity, but could also be indicative of other spectral-type dependent factors (e.g, X-rays, UV radiation, stellar/disk winds, etc.).
Dust grains in the planet forming regions around young stars are expected to be heavily processed due to coagulation, fragmentation and crystallization. This paper focuses on the crystalline silicate dust grains in protoplanetary disks. As part of the Cores to Disks Legacy Program, we obtained more than a hundred Spitzer/IRS spectra of TTauri stars. More than 3/4 of our objects show at least one crystalline silicate emission feature that can be essentially attributed to Mg-rich silicates. Observational properties of the crystalline features seen at lambda > 20 mu correlate with each other, while they are largely uncorrelated with the properties of the amorphous silicate 10 mu feature. This supports the idea that the IRS spectra essentially probe two independent disk regions: a warm zone (< 1 AU) emitting at lambda ~ 10 mu and a much colder region emitting at lambda > 20 mu (< 10 AU). We identify a crystallinity paradox, as the long-wavelength crystalline silicate features are 3.5 times more frequently detected (~55 % vs. ~15%) than the crystalline features arising from much warmer disk regions. This suggests that the disk has an inhomogeneous dust composition within ~10 AU. The abundant crystalline silicates found far from their presumed formation regions suggests efficient outward radial transport mechanisms in the disks. The analysis of the shape and strength of both the amorphous 10 mu feature and the crystalline feature around 23 mu provides evidence for the prevalence of micron-sized grains in upper layers of disks. Their presence in disk atmospheres suggests efficient vertical diffusion, likely accompanied by grain-grain fragmentation to balance the efficient growth expected. Finally, the depletion of submicron-sized grains points toward removal mechanisms such as stellar winds or radiation pressure.
Aims: We search for PAH features towards T Tauri stars and compare them with surveys of Herbig Ae/Be stars. The presence and strength of the PAH features are interpreted with disk radiative transfer models exploring the PAH feature dependence on the incident UV radiation, PAH abundance and disk parameters. Methods: Spitzer Space Telescope 5-35 micron spectra of 54 pre-main sequence stars with disks were obtained, consisting of 38 T Tauri, 7 Herbig Ae/Be and 9 stars with unknown spectral type. Results: Compact PAH emission is detected towards at least 8 sources of which 5 are Herbig Ae/Be stars. The 11.2 micron PAH feature is detected in all of these sources, as is the 6.2 micron PAH feature where short wavelength data are available. However, the 7.7 and 8.6 micron features appear strongly in only 1 of these 4 sources. PAH emission is observed towards at least 3 T Tauri stars (8% detection rate). The lowest mass source with PAHs in our sample is T Cha (G8). All 4 sources in our sample with evidence for dust holes in their inner disk show PAH emission, increasing the feature/continuum ratio. Typical 11.2 micron line intensities are an order of magnitude lower than those observed for the more massive Herbig Ae/Be stars. Measured line fluxes indicate PAH abundances that are factors of 10-100 lower than standard interstellar values. Conversely, PAH features from disks exposed to stars with Teff<=4200K without enhanced UV are predicted to be below the current detection limit, even for high PAH abundances. Disk modeling shows that the 6.2 and 11.2 micron features are the best PAH tracers for T Tauri stars, whereas the 7.7 and 8.6 micron bands have low feature over continuum ratios due to the strongly rising silicate emission.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
