Dr. Claire Davies
University of Exeter, UK
Disc-hosting young stellar objects at high angular resolution
Abstract: Directly observing the innermost astronomical units of the discs that surround stars as they form is crucial to our understanding of star and planet formation. Unless large-scale planetary migration is invoked, these regions are understood to be the main sites of planet formation. In addition, the structure and dynamics of the gas and dust in this region impacts stellar accretion and its associated outflows. For even the closest systems to the Earth, the inner disc regions subtend an angle on the order of 10s of milliarcseconds at most – a distance scale only accessible to optical long baseline interferometry. In this talk, I will present results from our surveys of young stellar objects with the CHARA Array from before and after the commissioning of our MIRC-X beam combiner. With the 330 m baselines of the CHARA Array and the sensitivity and baseline coverage of MIRC-X, we are spatially resolving the inner dust sublimation rims of the disks of these objects, revealing a range of grain growth efficiencies; the presence of optically thick material interior to the theoretical dust sublimation radius; and additional optically thick structures in the accretion-related outflows which contribute to the excess infrared continuum emission.
Leave a Comment
Last Updated: 8th October 2020 by Simon Purser
2020-10-09, 15:00: Dr. Claire Davies (University of Exeter)
Dr. Claire Davies
University of Exeter, UK
Disc-hosting young stellar objects at high angular resolution
Abstract: Directly observing the innermost astronomical units of the discs that surround stars as they form is crucial to our understanding of star and planet formation. Unless large-scale planetary migration is invoked, these regions are understood to be the main sites of planet formation. In addition, the structure and dynamics of the gas and dust in this region impacts stellar accretion and its associated outflows. For even the closest systems to the Earth, the inner disc regions subtend an angle on the order of 10s of milliarcseconds at most – a distance scale only accessible to optical long baseline interferometry. In this talk, I will present results from our surveys of young stellar objects with the CHARA Array from before and after the commissioning of our MIRC-X beam combiner. With the 330 m baselines of the CHARA Array and the sensitivity and baseline coverage of MIRC-X, we are spatially resolving the inner dust sublimation rims of the disks of these objects, revealing a range of grain growth efficiencies; the presence of optically thick material interior to the theoretical dust sublimation radius; and additional optically thick structures in the accretion-related outflows which contribute to the excess infrared continuum emission.
Category: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Future Seminars, Seminars
Recent Posts
DIAS Astrophotography competition goes mobile for 2024
Irish scientists are part of groundbreaking discovery with James Webb Space Telescope
Dr Pauline Gagnon (formerly of CERN) to deliver two talks at DIAS
DIAS Professor announced as next President of the European Southern Observatory’s Council
Quake Shake: New programme encourages people to get involved in monitoring earthquakes
Language switcher