NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2009A-0202
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NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2009A-0202 |
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PI: Marshall Perrin, UC Los Angeles, mperrin@ucla.edu
Address: Department of Physics and Astronomy, 430 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
CoI: Gaspard Duchene, UC Berkeley
CoI: Michael Fitzgerald, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
CoI: Christian Marois, Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics
CoI: Christophe Pinte, University of Exeter
Title: Resolved Imaging of Two New Protoplanetary Disks around Young Fe stars
Abstract:
Circumstellar disks are the birthplace of planets, in which sub-micron dust
grains gradually assemble into larger bodies. Spatially resolved,
multiwavelength imaging of such disks is a powerful tool for studying their
properties, and has provided insight into processes of disk evolution and
grain growth around many T Tauri and Herbig Ae stars. Results to date suggest
that disk properties do vary somewhat between these two classes of stars,
consistent with the recent discovery that planetary orbits around A-type
stars differ significantly from those typical around solar-type stars.
Detailed investigations of disks across a wide range of masses will help to
determine the physical mechanism(s) behind these differences. But resolved
images of disks remain very rare for stars intermediate between T Tauri and
Herbig Ae (the so-called Herbig Fe stars). We therefore propose to obtain
high resolution, spatially resolved images of two newly-identified disks
around nearby Fe stars, using NIRI and Michelle on Gemini. These data will
double the number of Fe stars with resolved protoplanetary disks and thereby
contribute key data for understanding the transition between the differing
disk geometries of T Tauri and Herbig Ae stars.
National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, P.O. Box 26732, Tucson, Arizona 85726, Phone: (520) 318-8000, Fax: (520) 318-8360
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NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2009A-0202 |
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