Spectrally dispersed K-band interferometric observations of herbig Ae/Be sources: Inner disk temperature profiles

J. A. Eisner, E. I. Chiang, B. P. Lane, R. L. Akeson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

61 Scopus citations

Abstract

We use spectrally dispersed near-IR interferometry data to constrain the temperature profiles of sub-AU-sized regions of 11 Herbig Ae/Be sources. We find that a single-temperature ring does not reproduce the data well. Rather, models incorporating radial temperature gradients are preferred. These gradients may arise in a dusty disk, or may reflect separate gas and dust components with different temperatures and spatial distributions. Comparison of our models with broad-band spectral energy distributions suggests the latter explanation. The data support the view that the near-IR emission of Herbig Ae/Be sources arises from hot circumstellar dust and gas in sub-AU-sized disk regions. Intriguingly, our derived temperature gradients appear systematically steeper for disks around higher mass stars. It is not clear, however, whether this reflects trends in relative dust/gas contributions or gradients within individual components.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)347-358
Number of pages12
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume657
Issue number1 I
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 1 2007
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Circumstellar matter
  • Stars: individual (AB Aur, AS 442, CQ Tau, MWC 120, MWC 480, MWC 758, MWC 1080, T Ori, V1295 Aql, V1685 Cyg, VV Ser)
  • Stars: pre-main-sequence
  • Techniques: high angular resolution
  • Techniques: interferometric

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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