Mind the Gap: Timing Planet Formation by Looking in the Holes and Gaps of Dusty Disks

Details Mind the Gap: Timing Planet Formation by Looking in the Holes and Gaps of Dusty Disks Mind the Gap: Timing Planet Formation by Looking in the Holes and Gaps of Dusty Disks

Mar 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008sptz.prop50403c&link_type=abstract

Spitzer Proposal ID #50403

Physics

Scientific paper

Uncovering the details of disk dissipation is critical to understanding the formation of planetary systems. In the past few years Spitzer has greatly aided in this task by giving us an unprecedented view of dust clearing in the inner regions of protoplanetary disks, most notably through observations of stars with inner disks that are mostly devoid of small dust i.e. the 'transitional disks.' Recently, Spitzer has identified a new class of 'pre-transitional disks' with significant near-infrared excesses which indicate the presence of an optically thick inner disk separated from an optically thick outer disk, suggesting the incipient development of disk gaps as opposed to the inner holes seen in transitional disks. Here we propose for five hours of IRS time to study variability in 18 transitional and pre-transitional disks in Taurus and Chamaeleon in order to refine planet formation theories. The prospect of detecting variability in these objects is favorable based on IRS data taken in the past few weeks showing that transitional disks exhibit extreme variability due to the behavior of optically thin dust within the inner disk hole. Variability in transitional and pre-transitional disks can be linked with planets interacting with dust in the holes and gaps of these disks and therefore this study will help provide estimates of spatial inhomogeneities and characteristic timescales of changes for planet formation models.

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