Demographics of Protoplanetary Disks: A Simulated Population of Edge-on Systems
Abstract
Highly inclined, or "edge-on" protoplanetary disks provide us with unique observations of dust distributions around young stars, allowing us to better constrain the disk structure that plays an essential role in the planet formation process. About three dozen known edge-on protoplanetary disks have been imaged to date, a large fraction of which discovered by our team through Hubble Space Telescope imaging. However, it is still unknown whether our Spitzer-informed selection process is biased and whether the resulting sample of edge-on disks is representative of the population as a whole. To assess this, we generated a large grid of ~15,000 simulated protoplanetary disks using radiative transfer models with MCFOST to holistically sample a parameter space that encapsulates all potentially observable disks. We then developed a series of tests in order to determine which of our models produce optically thick, edge-on protoplanetary systems that are detectable with current methods that rely on SED analysis and high-resolution imaging follow-up. Building on empirical disk demographics, we infer a predicted occurrence rate of edge-on disks. Unsurprisingly, we find that the criteria used in selecting candidates are biased towards high inclination, and high disk mass. However, we also uncover a bias towards flatter, more radially compact disks, although these disks are often difficult to confirm even with high-resolution imaging.
- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #235
- Pub Date:
- January 2020
- Bibcode:
- 2020AAS...23530810A