Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21822501a&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #218, #225.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
We present new and archival high angular resolution Submillimeter Array (SMA) observations of the 880 micron dust continuum emission from 12 transition disks in nearby star-forming regions. In each case, we directly resolve a dust-depleted cavity around the central star. Using two-dimensional Monte Carlo radiative transfer calculations, we interrpret these dust disk structures in a homogeneous, parametric model framework by reproducing their SMA continuum visibilities and spectral energy distributions. The cavities in these disks are large (R = 15-73 AU) and substantially depleted of small (micron-sized) dust grains, although their mass contents are still uncertain. The structures of the remnant material at larger radii are comparable to normal disks. We demonstrate that these large cavities are common among the millimeter-bright disk population, comprising at least 20% of the disks in the bright half of the millimeter luminosity distribution. We suggest that these observations are most commensurate with dynamical clearing due to tidal interactions with low-mass companions - young brown dwarfs of giant planets on long-period orbits.
Andrews Sean M.
Brown Jonathan M.
Dullemond Kees
Espaillat Catherine
Hughes Mimi
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