Physics – Optics
Scientific paper
Jan 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010aas...21541437b&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #215, #414.37; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 42, p.260
Physics
Optics
1
Scientific paper
The inner regions of protoplanetary disks (R<50AU) are thought to be the most active regions for planet formation and thus to hold the key to understanding the formation of solar systems like our own. Unfortunately, imaging studies at these subarcsecond spatial scales are limited with today's technological capabilities. However, spectroscopic studies can probe gas within this region to determine the protoplanetary environment. CO is a excellent tracer of gas in protoplanetary disks, as it is abundant and far easier to observe with ground-based observations than molecular hydrogen. We have used the CRIRES spectrograph on the ESO VLT to obtain high resolution spectra (R 100,000, v=3 km/s) of the 4.7 micron CO v=1-0 fundamental emission band for over 60 young stars with massive disks. The sample spans a range of physical properties including spectral type, stellar mass and luminosity, and inclination. Acquisition of such a large sample of CO emission profiles of protoplanetary disks provides an unprecedented opportunity for a broad examination of the gas distribution in a wide variety of circumstellar environments. The high spectral resolution and high dynamic range of CRIRES spectra is essential to resolve the individual line profiles so that velocity information can be used to locate the gas within the disk. CRIRES has the additional advantage of an excellent adaptive optics system allowing spatial resolution of extended emission as in the case of IRS 48. Detailed knowledge of gas in the inner regions of disks is a key component needed to determine the evolutionary process of how circumstellar disks transform into planetary systems.
Bast J.
Brown Joanna
Herczeg Gregory
Pontoppidan Klaus
van Dishoeck Ewine
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