We present new high-resolution ($sim$0farcs09) $H$-band imaging observations of the circumstellar disk around the T Tauri star SU Aur. Our observations with Subaru-HiCIAO have revealed the presence of scattered light as close as 0farcs15 ($sim$20 AU)
to the star. Within our image, we identify bright emission associated with a disk with a minimum radius of $sim$90 AU, an inclination of $sim$35degr from the plane of the sky, and an approximate P.A. of 15degr for the major axis. We find a brightness asymmetry between the northern and southern sides of the disk due to a non-axisymmetric disk structure. We also identify a pair of asymmetric tail structures extending east and west from the disk. The western tail extends at least 2farcs5 (350 AU) from the star, and is probably associated with a reflection nebula previously observed at optical and near-IR wavelengths. The eastern tail extends at least 1arcsec (140 AU) at the present signal-to-noise. These tails are likely due to an encounter with an unseen brown dwarf, but our results do not exclude the explanation that these tails are outflow cavities or jets.
We present near-infrared coronagraphic imaging polarimetry of RY Tau. The scattered light in the circumstellar environment was imaged at H-band at a high resolution (~0.05) for the first time, using Subaru-HiCIAO. The observed polarized intensity (PI
) distribution shows a butterfly-like distribution of bright emission with an angular scale similar to the disk observed at millimeter wavelengths. This distribution is offset toward the blueshifted jet, indicating the presence of a geometrically thick disk or a remnant envelope, and therefore the earliest stage of the Class II evolutionary phase. We perform comparisons between the observed PI distribution and disk models with: (1) full radiative transfer code, using the spectral energy distribution (SED) to constrain the disk parameters; and (2) monochromatic simulations of scattered light which explore a wide range of parameters space to constrain the disk and dust parameters. We show that these models cannot consistently explain the observed PI distribution, SED, and the viewing angle inferred by millimeter interferometry. We suggest that the scattered light in the near-infrared is associated with an optically thin and geometrically thick layer above the disk surface, with the surface responsible for the infrared SED. Half of the scattered light and thermal radiation in this layer illuminates the disk surface, and this process may significantly affect the thermal structure of the disk.
