Coronagraphic, Polarimetric Imaging of T Tau with NICMOS

Details Coronagraphic, Polarimetric Imaging of T Tau with NICMOS Coronagraphic, Polarimetric Imaging of T Tau with NICMOS

Dec 1997

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997hst..prop.7326w&link_type=abstract

HST Proposal ID #7326

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Hst Proposal Id #7326 Young Stars And Circumstellar Material

Scientific paper

Is the universe good at making planets? This question has motivated many infrared astronomy programs and is one research area in which NICMOS on HST will have an enormous, long lasting impact. Since recognizing that infrared excesses around T Tauri stars indicated the presence of preplanetary disks, we have wanted to better characterize these disks. We want to know how and how easily they form, how they interact with surrounding molecular clouds, how they feed the central stars, what disk lifetimes and masses are, and how disks survive and are impacted by the presence of stellar companions within ~100 AU. We propose to address many of these problems with a comprehensive NICMOS study of T Tau, the prototype for the entire class of T Tauri stars. T Tau has a circumstellar disk and an infrared companion less than 100 AU distant. In some ways, more is known about this disk than about any other disk around any other T Tauri star. Yet, because T Tau is so bright in the infrared, we know almost nothing about the system within ~4 arcsec of the central binary. Polarimetric, coronagraphic near-IR imaging with NICMOS is the most powerful means available with which to directly probe this inner region, which is arguable the most important and interesting region of the T Tau system. The proposed observations will yield direct indications of the structure of what is likely an example of a protoplanetary disk, and will provide insight into the relationship between this disk and the T Tau binary system. We also propose to obtain a suite of narrow- and broad-band direct images that will clarify the complicated way in which the binary interacts with Burnham's emission nebula, Hind's reflection nebula and the nearby Herbig-Haro objects.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Coronagraphic, Polarimetric Imaging of T Tau with NICMOS 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 Coronagraphic, Polarimetric Imaging of T Tau with NICMOS, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Coronagraphic, Polarimetric Imaging of T Tau with NICMOS will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-895470