A Rotating Gaseous Disk Around the T Tauri Star GM Aurigae

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

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Scientific paper

We present aperture synthesis maps of the gas and dust around GM Aurigae, a T Tauri star in the nearby (140 pc) Taurus-Auriga dark cloud. Maps in 1.4 mm continuum emission and in the (13) CO (2->1) line at 4'' resolution reveal unresolved and compact dust at the stellar position, encircled by a rotating gaseous disk. The 500 AU radius disk is oriented along PA 50(deg) and is inclined at about 60(deg) to an edge-on viewing angle. In its overall properties, this disk is comparable to that of the protosolar nebula. Observations of GM Auriga constrain the mechanisms and timescales for dispersion of dust and gas in a circumstellar disk. With an age of ~ 2times 10(6) yrs, GM Auriga is currently the oldest T Tauri star for which a gaseous disk has been imaged. At mid-infrared wavelengths, its flux is relatively low, suggesting that clearing of dust has taken place close to the star. The clearing may be due to the aggregation of dust grains into planetesimals, a process expected to occur rapidly as accretion slows down. Our observations imply that dispersion of gas in a protoplanetary disk does not pre-date the earliest phase of planetesimal formation, supporting theories of outer planet formation which require the formation of a rock-ice core prior to gas accumulation.

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