An Inner Hole in the Disk around TW Hydrae Resolved in 7 mm Dust Emission
Abstract
We present Very Large Array observations at 7 mm wavelength that resolve the dust emission structure in the disk around the young star TW Hydrae at the scale of the ~4 AU (0.16") radius inner hole inferred from spectral energy distribution modeling. These high-resolution data directly confirm the presence of an inner hole in the dust disk and reveal a high-brightness ring that we associate with the directly illuminated inner edge of the disk. The clearing of the inner disk plausibly results from the dynamical effects of a giant planet in formation. In an appendix, we develop an analytical framework for the interpretation of visibility curves from power-law disk models with inner holes.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- July 2007
- DOI:
- 10.1086/518885
- arXiv:
- arXiv:0704.2422
- Bibcode:
- 2007ApJ...664..536H
- Keywords:
-
- Stars: Circumstellar Matter;
- Stars: Planetary Systems: Protoplanetary Disks;
- stars: individual (TW Hydrae);
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 8 pages, 4 figures, accepted by ApJ