Infrared Variability of Protoplanetary Disks: Signs of Complex Disk Structure

Details Infrared Variability of Protoplanetary Disks: Signs of Complex Disk Structure Infrared Variability of Protoplanetary Disks: Signs of Complex Disk Structure

Jan 2012

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2012aas...21943703f&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #219, #437.03

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Circumstellar disks around newly formed stars are the sites of planet formation, and their structure can have a large influence on the formation and early evolution of planets. We have obtained multi-wavelength multi-epoch infrared observations of the IC348 cluster, focusing on six transition disks, to look for rapid changes in the structure of these systems. These measurements include optical, near-infrared and mid-infrared spectra, along with intensive mid-infrared photometry covering timescales of days to years. We find that 70% of the stars with disks are variable, with infrared fluctuations up to a few tenths of a magnitude on timescales of days to weeks. The transition disks, characterized by an SED that indicates clearing of the inner disk, display a 'seesaw' behavior in which the short-wavelength (<8μm) flux and the long-wavelength (>8μm) flux vary in opposite directions by as much as 60% in as little as one week. Our observations show that this can be explained by varying the scale height of the inner disk. We can rule out accretion and disk winds, leaving an embedded planet or a dynamic magnetic field as the likely physical source of the disk perturbation.

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