The 30 Myr old A3-type star HD 21997 is one of the two known debris dust disks having a measurable amount of cold molecular gas. With the goal of understanding the physical state, origin, and evolution of the gas in young debris disks, we obtained CO
line observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). Here we report on the detection of 12CO and 13CO in the J=2-1 and J=3-2 transitions and C18O in the J=2-1 line. The gas exhibits a Keplerian velocity curve, one of the few direct measurements of Keplerian rotation in young debris disks. The measured CO brightness distribution could be reproduced by a simple star+disk system, whose parameters are r_in < 26 AU, r_out = 138 +/- 20 AU, M_*=1.8 +0.5 -0.2 M_Sun, and i = 32.6 +/- 3.1 degrees. The total CO mass, as calculated from the optically thin C18O line, is about (4-8) x 10^-2 M_Earth, while the CO line ratios suggest a radiation temperature on the order of 6-9 K. Comparing our results with those obtained for the dust component of the HD 21997 disk from the ALMA continuum observations by Moor et al., we conclude that comparable amounts of CO gas and dust are present in the disk. Interestingly, the gas and dust in the HD 21997 system are not co-located, indicating a dust-free inner gas disk within 55 AU of the star. We explore two possible scenarios for the origin of the gas. A secondary origin, which involves gas production from colliding or active planetesimals, would require unreasonably high gas production rates and would not explain why the gas and dust are not co-located. We propose that HD 21997 is a hybrid system where secondary debris dust and primordial gas coexist. HD 21997, whose age exceeds both the model predictions for disk clearing and the ages of the oldest T Tauri-like or transitional gas disks in the literature, may be a key object linking the primordial and the debris phases of disk evolution.
Context. V2492 Cyg is a young eruptive star that went into outburst in 2010. The near-infrared color changes observed since the outburst peak suggest that the source belongs to a newly defined sub-class of young eruptive stars, where time-dependent a
ccretion and variable line-of-sight extinction play a combined role in the flux changes. Aims. In order to learn about the origin of the light variations and to explore the circumstellar and interstellar environment of V2492 Cyg, we monitored the source at ten different wavelengths, between 0.55 mu m and 2.2 mu m from the ground and between 3.6 mu m and 160 mu m from space. Methods. We analyze the light curves and study the color-color diagrams via comparison with the standard reddening path. We examine the structure of the molecular cloud hosting V2492 Cyg by computing temperature and optical depth maps from the far-infrared data. Results. We find that the shapes of the light curves at different wavelengths are strictly self-similar and that the observed variability is related to a single physical process, most likely variable extinction. We suggest that the central source is episodically occulted by a dense dust cloud in the inner disk, and, based on the invariability of the far-infrared fluxes, we propose that it is a long-lived rather than a transient structure. In some respects, V2492 Cyg can be regarded as a young, embedded analog of UX Orionis-type stars. Conclusions. The example of V2492 Cyg demonstrates that the light variations of young eruptive stars are not exclusively related to changing accretion. The variability provided information on an azimuthally asymmetric structural element in the inner disk. Such an asymmetric density distribution in the terrestrial zone may also have consequences for the initial conditions of planet formation.
Optical and near-infrared variability is a well-known property of young stellar objects. However, a growing number of recent studies claim that a considerable fraction of them also exhibit mid-infrared flux changes. With the aim of studying and inter
preting variability on a decadal timescale, here we present a mid-infrared spectral atlas containing observations of 68 low- and intermediate mass young stellar objects. The atlas consists of 2.5-11.6 um low-resolution spectra obtained with the ISOPHOT-S instrument on-board the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) between 1996 and 1998, as well as 5.2-14.5 um low-resolution spectra obtained with the IRS instrument on-board the Spitzer Space Telescope between 2004 and 2007. The observations were retrieved from the ISO and Spitzer archives and were post-processed interactively by our own routines. For those 47 objects where multi-epoch spectra were available, we analyze mid-infrared spectral variability on annual and/or decadal timescales. We identify 37 variable candidate sources. Many stars show wavelength-independent flux changes, possibly due to variable accretion rate. In several systems, all exhibiting 10 um silicate emission, the variability of the 6-8 um continuum and the silicate feature exhibit different amplitudes. A possible explanation is variable shadowing of the silicate emitting region by an inner disk structure of changing height or extra silicate emission from dust clouds in the disk atmosphere. Our results suggest that mid-infrared variability, in particular the wavelength-dependent changes, are more ubiquitous than was known before. Interpreting this variability is a new possibility to explore the structure of the disk and its dynamical processes.
Aims. We analyze the surroundings of HD 97300, one of two intermediate-mass stars in the Chamaeleon I star-forming region. The star is known to be surrounded by a conspicuous ring of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Methods. We present infr
ared images taken with Herschel and Spitzer using 11 different broad-band filters between 3.6 um and 500 um. We compare the morphology of the emission using cuts along different position angles. We construct spectral energy distributions, which we compare to different dust models, and calculate dust temperatures. We also derive opacity maps and analyze the density structure of the environment of HD 97300. Results. We find that HD 97300 has no infrared excess at or below 24 um, confirming its zero-age main-sequence nature. The morphology of the ring is very similar between 3.6 um and 24 um. The emission at these wavelengths is dominated by either PAH features or PAH continuum. At longer wavelengths, only the northwestern part of the ring is visible. A fit to the 100-500 um observations suggests that the emission is due to relatively warm (~26 K) dust. The temperature gradually decreases with increasing distance from the ring. We find a general decrease in the density from north to south, and an approximate 10% density increase in the northeastern part of the ring. Conclusions. Our results are consistent with the theory that the ring around HD 97300 is essentially a bubble blown into the surrounding interstellar matter and heated by the star.
We present the first high spatial resolution near-infrared direct and polarimetric observations of Parsamian 21, obtained with the VLT/NACO instrument. We complemented these measurements with archival infrared observations, such as HST/WFPC2 imaging,
HST/NICMOS polarimetry, Spitzer IRAC and MIPS photometry, Spitzer IRS spectroscopy as well as ISO photometry. Our main conclusions are the following: (1) we argue that Parsamian 21 is probably an FU Orionis-type object; (2) Parsamian 21 is not associated with any rich cluster of young stars; (3) our measurements reveal a circumstellar envelope, a polar cavity and an edge-on disc; the disc seems to be geometrically flat and extends from approximately 48 to 360 AU from the star; (4) the SED can be reproduced with a simple model of a circumstellar disc and an envelope; (5) within the framework of an evolutionary sequence of FUors proposed by Green et al. (2006) and Quanz et al. (2007), Parsamian 21 can be classified as an intermediate-aged object.
OO Serpentis is a deeply embedded pre-main sequence star that went into outburst in 1995 and gradually faded afterwards. Its eruption resembled the well-known FU Orionis-type or EX Lupi-type outbursts. Since very few such events have ever been docume
nted at infrared wavelengths, our aim is to study the temporal evolution of OO Ser in the infrared. OO Ser was monitored with the Infrared Space Observatory starting 4 months after peak brightness and covering 20 months. In 2004-2006 we again observed OO Ser from the ground and complemented this dataset with archival Spitzer obsevations also from 2004. We analysed these data with special attention to source confusion and constructed light curves at 10 different wavelengths as well as spectral energy distributions. The outburst caused brightening in the whole infrared regime. According to the infrared light curves, OO Ser started a wavelength-independent fading after peak brightness. Later the flux decay became slower but stayed wavelength-independent. The fading is still ongoing, and current fading rates indicate that OO Ser will not return to quiescent state before 2011. The outburst timescale of OO Ser seems to be shorter than that of FUors, but longer than that of EXors. The outburst timescale and the moderate luminosity suggest that OO Ser is different from both FUors and EXors, and shows similarities to the recently erupted young star V1647 Ori. Based on its spectral energy distribution and bolometric temperature, OO Ser seems to be an early class I object, with an age of < 10^5 yr. The object is probably surrounded by an accretion disc and a dense envelope. Due to the shorter outburst timescales, the viscosity in the circumstellar disc of OO Ser is probably an order of magnitude higher than usual for FUors.
