Constraints on Properties of the Protoplanetary Disks around UX Orionis and CQ Tauri
Abstract
We present Very Large Array observations of the intermediate-mass pre-main-sequence stars UX Ori and CQ Tau at 7 mm, 3.6 cm, and 6 cm. These stars are members of the UX Ori variability class, where the origin of optical variability is thought to derive from inhomogeneities in circumstellar disks. Both stars are detected at 7 mm but not at longer wavelengths, which confirms that the millimeter emission is dominated by dust. The UX Ori system exhibits a remarkably flat spectral index in the millimeter range, with αmm~2 (Fν~ναmm). Two different disk models can reproduce this property: (1) a physically small disk with optically thick emission, truncated at a radius of about 30 AU, or (2) a massive (~0.3-1 Msolar) disk mainly composed of dust particles grown to radii of 10 cm (``pebbles''). The observations do not spatially resolve the 7 mm emission. We discuss implications of these two models and suggest observational tests that will discriminate between them. The CQ Tau system exhibits a spectral index in the millimeter range of αmm~2.6, consistent with values commonly found for disks around pre-main-sequence stars. The observations marginally resolve the 7 mm emission as an elongated structure with full width at half-maximum of 2.4"×1.1" (240×110 AU at 100 pc distance). The size and inclination of ~63° (implied by circular symmetry) are consistent with flared disk models that have previously been suggested to explain the optical colors and polarization properties.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- June 2001
- DOI:
- 10.1086/321406
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/0102473
- Bibcode:
- 2001ApJ...554.1087T
- Keywords:
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- Stars: Circumstellar Matter;
- Radio Continuum: Stars;
- Stars: Formation;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 22 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ