NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2011A-0501
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NOAO > Observing Info > Approved Programs > 2011A-0501 |
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PI: Kevin R. Covey, Cornell University, kcovey@astro.cornell.edu
Address: Astronomy Department, 226 Space Sciences Bldg., Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
CoI: John Stauffer, IPAC/
CoI: Maria Morales-Calderon, IPAC
CoI: Luisa Rebull, IPAC
CoI: Peter Plavchan, IPAC
CoI: Rob Gutermuth, UMASS Amhurst / Smith College
Title: Synoptic Monitoring of Embedded Young Stars: Coordinated ANIDCAM/Spitzer light curves
Abstract: We propose to use ANDICAM on the CTIO-1.3m telescope to obtain ~40 nights of J-band synoptic monitoring of the Serpens star- forming core. This imaging will provide NIR photometry for ~50 very young, embedded Class I and II young-stellar objects. The short wavelength variability captured in this campaign will complement time- series monitoring with IRAC on the Spitzer Space telescope conducted as part of a warm Spitzer ``Exploration Science" program currently in progress. We will use the combined, multi-wavelength photometric monitoring data to determine the physical mechanisms responsible for the near-IR and mid-IR variability of these YSOs. Theoretical models suggest this variability may be due to accretion variability, or transient structures in circumstellar disks. By distinguishing between competing models for these variability mechanisms we will constrain the non-axisymmetry of circumstellar disks, and therefore advance our understanding of mass accretion, disk dynamics, and potentially planet formation processes in the youngest stellar objects.
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 > 2011A-0501 |
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