Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Galaxy Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2011-03-01
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Galaxy Astrophysics
ApJ, in press
Scientific paper
Circumstellar disks are thought to experience a rapid "transition" phase in their evolution that can have a considerable impact on the formation and early development of planetary systems. We present new and archival high angular resolution (0.3" = 40-75 AU) Submillimeter Array (SMA) observations of the 880 micron dust continuum emission from 12 such transition disks in nearby star-forming regions. In each case, we directly resolve a dust-depleted disk cavity around the central star. Using radiative transfer calculations, we interpret these dust disk structures in a homogeneous, parametric model framework by reproducing their SMA visibilities and SEDs. The cavities in these disks are large (R_cav = 15-73 AU) and substantially depleted of small (~um-sized) dust grains, although their mass contents are still uncertain. The structures of the remnant material at larger radii are comparable to normal disks. We demonstrate that these large cavities are common among the millimeter-bright disk population, comprising at least 20% of the disks in the bright half of the millimeter luminosity (disk mass) distribution. Utilizing these results, we assess some of the physical mechanisms proposed to account for transition disk structures. As has been shown before, photoevaporation models do not produce the large cavity sizes, accretion rates, and disk masses representative of this sample. It would be difficult to achieve a sufficient decrease of the dust optical depths in these cavities by particle growth alone: substantial growth (to meter sizes or beyond) must occur in large (tens of AU) regions of low turbulence without also producing an abundance of small particles. Given those challenges, we suggest instead that the observations are most commensurate with dynamical clearing due to tidal interactions with low-mass companions --young brown dwarfs or giant planets on long-period orbits.
Andrews Sean
Brown Jonathan M.
Dullemond Cornelis Petrus
Espaillat Catherine
Hughes Meredith A.
No associations
LandOfFree
Resolved Images of Large Cavities in Protoplanetary Transition Disks does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Resolved Images of Large Cavities in Protoplanetary Transition Disks, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Resolved Images of Large Cavities in Protoplanetary Transition Disks will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-472208