Spiral Structure in the Circumstellar Disk around AB Aurigae

Details Spiral Structure in the Circumstellar Disk around AB Aurigae Spiral Structure in the Circumstellar Disk around AB Aurigae

Apr 2004

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004apj...605l..53f&link_type=abstract

The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 605, Issue 1, pp. L53-L56.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

98

Stars: Planetary Systems: Protoplanetary Disks, Stars: Individual: Constellation Name: Ab Aurigae, Stars: Pre-Main-Sequence

Scientific paper

We present a near-infrared image of the Herbig Ae star AB Aur obtained with the Coronagraphic Imager with Adaptive Optics mounted on the Subaru Telescope. The image shows a circumstellar emission extending out to a radius of r=580 AU, with a double spiral structure detected at r=200-450 AU. The surface brightness decreases as r-3.0+/-0.1, steeper than the radial profile of the optical emission possibly affected by the scattered light from the envelope surrounding AB Aur. This result, together with the size of the infrared emission similar to that of the 13CO (J=1-0) disk, suggests that the spiral structure is indeed associated with the circumstellar disk but is not part of the extended envelope. We identified four major spiral arms, which are trailing if the brighter southeastern part of the disk is the near side. The weak gravitational instability, maintained for millions of years by continuous mass supply from the envelope, might explain the presence of the spiral structure at the relatively late phase of the pre-main-sequence period.
Based on data collected at the Subaru Telescope, which is operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.

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