On the Diversity of Transitional Disks

Details On the Diversity of Transitional Disks On the Diversity of Transitional Disks

Dec 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007aas...21114501e&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #211, #145.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.997

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Previous studies have revealed stars with optically-thick disks with inner holes that are mostly devoid of small dust, and these "transitional disks” have been proposed as the bridge between Class II objects, young stars surrounded by full disks accreting material onto the central star, and Class III objects, stars where the protoplanetary disk is mostly dissipated and accretion has stopped. Recently, a further class of "pre-transitional disk” has been identified with significant near-infrared excesses that indicate the presence of an optically thick inner disk separated from an optically thick outer disk; thus, the spectral energy distributions of pre-transitional disks suggest the incipient development of disk gaps rather than inner holes. In UX Tau A, our analysis of the Spitzer IRS spectrum finds a gap of 56 AU; the Spitzer IRS spectrum of LkCa 15 is suggestive of a gap of 46 AU, confirming previous millimeter imaging. The existence of an inner optically thick disk may be an indicator of the first stages of disk clearing that will eventually lead to the the inner holes that have been seen in previously reported transitional disks; this has important implications on disk evolution theories since only planet-formation can account for this gapped structure. Pre-transitional disks offer further insight into the diversity of the transitional disk class and future studies of these disks will greatly advance our understanding of disk evolution and planet formation.

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