Kant and Laplace suggested the Solar System formed from a rotating gaseous disk in the 18th century, but convincing evidence that young stars are indeed surrounded by such disks was not presented for another 200 years. As we move into the 21st century the emphasis is now on disk formation, the role of disks in star formation, and on how planets form in those disks. Radio wavelengths play a key role in these studies, currently providing some of the highest spatial resolution images of disks, along with evidence of the growth of dust grains into planetesimals. The future capabilities of EVLA and ALMA provide extremely exciting prospects for resolving disk structure and kinematics, studying disk chemistry, directly detecting proto-planets, and imaging disks in formation.
Using two-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations, we investigate the interaction of a collimated fast wind (CFW) interacting with a spherical asymptotic giant branch (AGB) wind as the mechanism for shaping proto-planetary nebulae and young planetary nebulae. In particular, we compare our simulations to the observations of an evolved PPN with multiple, highly collimated lobes, CRL 618.
The young planetary nebulae play an important role in stellar evolution when intermediate- to low-mass stars (0.8 $\sim$ 8 M$_\odot$) evolve from the proto-planetary nebulae phase to the planetary nebulae phase. Many young planetary nebulae display distinct bipolar structures as they evolve away from the proto-planetary nebulae phase. One possible cause of their bipolarity could be due to a binary origin of its energy source. Here we report our detailed investigation of the young planetary nebula, Hubble 12, which is well-known for its extended hourglass-like envelope. We present evidence with…
Eleven objects that have been reported as proto-planetary nebula or as young planetary nebulae that show very extended Halpha wings are presented. The extension of these wings is larger than 800 km/s. Data for two symbiotic stars that show this same characteristic is also presented. Raman scattering is the mechanism that best explains the wings in 10 of the PNe and in the 2 symbiotic stars. In the PN IRAS 20462+3416 the wing profile can be explained by very intense stellar wind.
The radio emission from the youngest known Planetary nebula, SAO244567, has been mapped at 20,13, 6, 3.6 and 1.2 cm by using the Australian Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). These observations constitute the first detailed radio study of this very interesting object, as they allow us to obtain, for the first time, the radio morphology of the source and to compute the radio spectrum up to 18752 MHz.
Despite of numerous efforts, the stage from Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) to Planetary Nebulae (PN) is a poorly understood phase of stellar evolution. We have therefore carried out interferometric (VLA) observations of a sample of hot post-AGB stars, selected on the basis of their optical and infrared properties. Ten sources, out of the 16 been observed, were detected. This indicates that most of our targets are surrounded by a nebula where the ionization has already started. This definitively determines the evolutionary status of the selected sources and provides us with a unique sample of ve…
We present narrow-band Hubble Space Telescope images of the young planetary nebula GL 618. These images have allowed us to study the detailed morphology of shock-excited emission present in the bipolar lobes of this object. These images reveal the presence of three highly collimated outflows emanating from the central regions of GL 618. We discuss the significance of the detection of these outflows and the possible origins of these features.
We report the results of a sensitive survey of young planetary nebulae in the CO J=2-1 line that significantly increases the available data on warm, dense, molecular gas in the early phases of planetary nebula formation. The observations were made using the IRAM 30 m telescope with the 3 by 3 pixel Heterodyne Receiver Array (HERA). The array provides an effective means of discriminating the CO emission of planetary nebulae in the galactic plane from contaminating emission of interstellar clouds along the line of sight. 110 planetary nebulae were observed in the survey and 40 were detected. The…
Despite numerous efforts, the transition from Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars to Planetary Nebulae (PN) is a poorly understood phase of stellar evolution. We have therefore carried out interferometric (VLA) radio observations of a sample of hot post-AGB stars, selected on the basis of their optical and infrared properties. Ten sources out of the 16 observed were detected. This indicates that most of our targets are surrounded by a nebula where the ionization has already started. This definitively determines the evolutionary status of the selected sources and provides us with a unique sampl…
The radio emission from the youngest known Planetary nebula, SAO244567, has been mapped at 1384, 2368, 4800, 8640, 16832 and 18752 MHz by using the Australian Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). These observations constitute the first detailed radio study of this very interesting object, as they allow us to obtain the overall radio morphology of the source and to compute, for the first time, the radio spectrum up to millimetre range. Radio emission is consistent with free-free from a wind-like shell, which is also the region where most of the [OIII] comes from as revealed by HST images. Physical p…
In the last few years we have started a systematic study aimed at detecting very young Planetary Nebulae (YPNs). The project, based on both radio (multi-frequency and high resolution) and optical observations, has already provided interesting results, including the identification of new YPNs and the observation, for the first time in PN in this very early phase of their formation, of radio bipolar morphologies. In this paper we present radio and optical results on one of our targets, namely IRAS 19590-1249 (LS IV -12 111). The analysis of spectroscopic observations, obtained with the Anglo Aus…
We have selected a small sample of post-AGB stars in transition towards the planetary nebula and present new Very Large Array multi-frequency high-angular resolution radio observations of them. The multi-frequency data are used to create and model the targets' radio continuum spectra, proving that these stars started their evolution as very young planetary nebulae. In the optically thin range, the slopes are compatible with the expected spectral index (-0.1). Two targets (IRAS 18062+2410 and 17423-1755) seem to be optically thick even at high frequency, as observed in a handful of other post-A…
Many extra-solar planets and a few planetary systems have been found indirectly by small periodic radial velocity variations around old nearby stars. The orbital characteristics of most of them are different from the planets in our solar system. Hence, planet formation theories have to be revised. Therefore, observational constraints regarding young planets would be very valuable. We have started a ground-based direct imaging search for giant planets in orbit around young nearby stars. Here, we will motivate the sample selection and will present our direct imaging observation of the very low-m…
The temporal behaviour of the radial abundance gradients has important consequences for models of the chemical evolution of the Galaxy. We present a comparison of the time variation of the abundance gradients in the Milky Way disk as determined from a sample of planetary nebulae, open clusters, cepheids and young objects, such as stars in OB associations and HII regions. We conclude that the [Fe/H] gradients as measured in open cluster stars strongly support the time flattening of the abundance gradient as determined from O/H and S/H measurements in planetary nebulae. This conclusion is also s…
We present Gemini near-infrared adaptive optics imaging and spectroscopy of a planetary mass candidate companion to 1RXS J160929.1-210524, a roughly solar-mass member of the 5 Myr-old Upper Scorpius association. The object, separated by 2.22" or 330 AU at ~150 pc, has infrared colors and spectra suggesting a temperature of 1800(-100/+200) K, and spectral type of L4(-2/+1). The H- and K-band spectra provide clear evidence of low surface gravity, and thus youth. Based on the widely used DUSTY models, we infer a mass of 8(-2/+4)Mjupiter. If gravitationally bound, this would be the lowest mass com…
WeBo 1 (PN G135.6+01.0), a previously unrecognized planetary nebula with a remarkable thin-ring morphology, was discovered serendipitously on Digitized Sky Survey images. The central star is found to be a late-type giant with overabundances of carbon and s-process elements. The giant is chromospherically active and photometrically variable, with a probable period of 4.7 days; this suggests that the star is spotted, and that 4.7 days is its rotation period. We propose a scenario in which one component of a binary system became an AGB star with a dense stellar wind enriched in C and s-process el…
Multi-band (0.9 to 1.6 um) images of the TW Hydrae Association (TWA) brown dwarf, 2MASS J1207334-393254 (also known as 2M1207), and its candidate planetary mass companion (2M1207b) were obtained on 2004 Aug 28 and 2005 Apr 26 with HST/NICMOS. The images from these two epochs unequivocally confirm the two objects as a common proper motion pair (16.0 sigma confidence). A new measurement of the proper motion of 2M1207 implies a distance to the system of 59+-7 pc and a projected separation of 46+-5 AU. The NICMOS and previously published VLT photometry of 2M1207b, extending overall from 0.9 to 3.8…
The stars that populate the solar neighbourhood were formed in stellar clusters. Through N-body simulations of these clusters, we measure the rate of close encounters between stars. By monitoring the interaction histories of each star, we investigate the singleton fraction in the solar neighbourhood. A singleton is a star which formed as a single star, has never experienced any close encounters with other stars or binaries, or undergone an exchange encounter with a binary. We find that, of the stars which formed as single stars, a significant fraction are not singletons once the clusters have …
I study some effects of aspherical mass loss during the last stages of the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) on the appearance of proto planetary nebulae (PNs) and young PNs. The aspherical mass loss can be small scale inhomogeneities, and/or axially symmetric mass loss geometry. I first examine the role of the dust opacity in the optical band on the appearance of proto-PNs. I conclude that large optical depth will be found in proto-PNs which are descendant of AGB stars having high equatorial mass loss rates, which require a stellar binary companion for their existence. These proto-PNs will become…
It is now well established that many young brown dwarfs exhibit characteristics similar to classical T Tauri stars, including infrared excess from disks and emission lines related to accretion. Whether the same holds true for even lower mass objects, namely those near and below the Deuterium-burning limit, is an important question. Here we present optical spectra of six isolated planetary mass candidates in Chamaeleon II, Lupus I and Ophiuchus star-forming regions, recently identified by Allers and collaborators to harbor substantial mid-infrared excesses. Our spectra, from ESO's Very Large Te…
We report first results from our ground-based infrared imaging search for sub-stellar companions (brown dwarfs and giant planets) of young (up to 100 Myrs) nearby (up to 75 pc) stars, where companions should be well separated from the central stars and still relatively bright due to ongoing accretion and/or contraction. Among our targets are all members of the TW Hya association, as well as other binary and single young stars either discovered recently among ROSAT sources (some of which as yet unpublished) or known before. Our observations are performed mainly with SOFI and SHARP at the ESO 3.…
We report evidence for a planetary companion around the nearby young star HD 70573. The star is a G type dwarf located at a distance of 46 pc with age estimation between 20 and 300 Myrs. We carried out spectroscopic observations of this star with FEROS at the 2.2 m MPG/ESO telescope at La Silla. Our spectroscopic analysis yields a spectral type of G1-1.5V and an age of about 100 Myrs. Variations in stellar radial velocity of HD 70573 have been monitored since December 2003 until January 2007. The velocity accuracy of FEROS within this period is about 10 m/s. HD 70573 shows a radial velocity va…
We report the first detection of the ground transition of the deuterated water at 464 GHz in the young proto-planetary disk surrounding the solar type protostar DM Tau. The line is observed in absorption against the continuum from the cold dust in the disk midplane, with a line to continuum ratio close to unity. The observation implies that deuterated gaseous water is present, with a relatively large abundance ($\sim 3\times10^{-9}$), in the outer disk above the midplane, where the density is, within a factor ten, $\sim 10^6$ cm$^{-3}$ and the temperature is lower than about 25 K. In these con…
This paper presents a sensitive and comprehensive IRAC 3-8 $μ$m photometric survey of white dwarfs for companions in the planetary mass regime with temperatures cooler than the known T dwarfs. The search focuses on descendents of intermediate mass stars with $M\ga3$ $M_{\odot}$ whose inner, few hundred AU regions cannot be probed effectively for massive planets and brown dwarfs by any alternative existing method. Furthermore, examination for mid-infrared excess explores an extensive range of orbital semimajor axes, including the intermediate 5-50 AU range poorly covered and incompletely access…
We present observations of Halpha emission line profiles taken at Magellan Observatory for a sample of 39 young low-mass stars and brown dwarfs in the Taurus and Chamaeleon I star forming regions. We have identified 11 new substellar accretors, more than tripling the number of known brown dwarfs with measurable accretion activity. These include the lowest-mass objects yet seen with accretion, with masses down to ~0.015 Msun. Using models of Halpha emission produced in magnetospheric accretion flows, the most widely applicable primary calibrator now available, we determine the first estimates o…
Hundreds of circumstellar disks in the Orion nebula are being rapidly destroyed by the intense ultraviolet radiation produced by nearby bright stars. These young, million-year-old disks may not survive long enough to form planetary systems. Nevertheless, the first stage of planet formation -- the growth of dust grains into larger particles -- may have begun in these systems. Observational evidence for these large particles in Orion's disks is presented. A model of grain evolution in externally irradiated protoplanetary disks is developed and predicts rapid particle size evolution and sharp out…
We present observations of the dusty emission from the young planetary nebulae Hen2-113 and CPD-56 obtained with VLT/NACO, VLTI/MIDI. The central stars of these two objects are Wolf-Rayet stars of the same spectral type [WC10]. They share an impressive number of characteristics and are located at similar distance, making the detection of any differences in their close environment of great interest. Hen2-113 exhibits a clear ring-like structure of about 0.4 arcsec in diameter, superimposed to a more diffuse environment visible in L', M' and 8.7 micron bands. No clear core could be detected for …
During orbital migration of a giant extrasolar planet via ejection of planetesimals (Murray et al.~1998), inner mean motion resonances can be strong enough to cause planetesimals to graze or impact the star. We integrate numerically the motions of particles which pass through the 3:1 or 4:1 mean motion resonances of a migrating Jupiter mass planet. We find that many particles can be trapped in the 3:1 or 4:1 resonances and pumped to high enough eccentricities that they impact the star. This implies that for a planet migrating a substantial fraction of its semi major axis, a significant fractio…
A detailed analysis is presented of the dominant ionised knot in the halo of the planetary nebula NGC 6543. Observations were made at high spectral and spatial resolution of the [OIII] 5007 line using the Manchester echelle spectrometer combined with the 2.1-m San Pedro Martir Telescope. A 20-element multislit was stepped across the field to give almost complete spatial coverage of the knot and surrounding halo. The spectra reveal, for the first time, gas flows around the kinematically inert knot. The gas flows are found to have velocities comparable to the sound speed as gas is photo-evaporat…
During an analysis of optical spectra of 80 young star clusters in several nearby spiral galaxies, [O III] and [N II] emission lines were noted in some cases. Three of these emission line sources are identified as likely planetary nebula (PN) candidates and may represent a rare opportunity to study PNe whose progenitor stars are known to be of intermediate masses. This paper presents and discusses basic properties of the PN candidates and their host clusters. Based on the observed emission line fluxes, the excitation parameters and luminosities of the nebulae are derived. This allows a crude p…
We present observations of continuum (lambda = 0.7, 1.3, 3.6 and 18 cm) and OH maser (lambda = 18 cm) emission toward the young planetary nebula IRAS 17347-3139, which is one of the three planetary nebulae that are known to harbor water maser emission. From the continuum observations we show that the ionized shell of IRAS 17347-3139 consists of two main structures: one extended (size ~1". 5) with bipolar morphology along PA=-30 degrees, elongated in the same direction as the lobes observed in the near-infrared images, and a central compact structure (size ~0". 25) elongated in the direction pe…
We investigate the mass function in the substellar domain down to a few Jupiter masses in the young sigma Orionis open cluster (3+/-2 Ma, d = 360^+70_-60 pc). We have performed a deep IJ-band search, covering an area of 790 arcmin^2 close to the cluster centre. This survey was complemented with an infrared follow-up in the HKs- and Spitzer 3.6-8.0 mum-bands. Using colour-magnitude diagrams, we have selected 49 candidate cluster members in the magnitude interval 16.1 mag < I < 23.0 mag. Accounting for flux excesses at 8.0 mum and previously known spectral features of youth, 30 objects are bona …
Detailed radial/vertical structure modeling of observations of disks around Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) can provide information on the physical conditions and on the characteristics of the gas and dust in their interiors. We describe recent results of self-consistent modeling of spectral energy distributions, optical and infrared images, and millimeter fluxes of YSOs. We discuss observations and interpretations of the initial stages of planet formation, including indications of dust growth and settling in disks around young stars. We also discuss how the unprecedented resolution and sensitivi…
We report on the search for planets orbiting 46 nearby young stars performed at the State Observatory of Turingia (TLS) by means of a radial velocity survey. The aim of this program is to test the theories of formation/evolution of planetary systems. For 19(8) stars we can exclude planets with Msini > 1 MJ (5 MJ) and P < 10 days; we find 1 short period binary and 5 stars with long period RV-trend. One good young exo-planet candidate is presented.
We present deep optical spectra of the archetypal young planetary nebula (PN) NGC 7027, covering a wavelength range from 3310 to 9160 A. The observations were carried out by uniformly scanning a long slit across the entire nebular surface, thus yielding average optical spectra for the whole nebula. A total of 937 emission features are detected. The extensive line list presented here should prove valuable for future spectroscopic analyses of emission line nebulae. The optical data, together with the archival IUE and ISO spectra, are used to probe the temperature and density structures and to de…
We present data obtained with the Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) aboard the Spitzer Space Telescope (Spitzer) for a sample of 74 young (t < 30 Myr old) Sun-like (0.7 < M(star)/M(Sun) < 1.5) stars. These are a sub-set of the observations that comprise the Spitzer Legacy science program entitled the Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems (FEPS). Using IRAC we study the fraction of young stars that exhibit 3.6-8.0 micron infrared emission in excess of that expected from the stellar photosphere, as a function of age from 3-30 Myr. The most straightforward interpretation of such excess emission…
The unanticipated discovery of the first close-in planet around 51 Peg has rekindled the notion that shortly after their formation outside the snow line, some planets may have migrated to the proximity of their host stars because of their tidal interaction with their nascent disks. If these planets indeed migrated to their present-day location, their survival would require a halting mechanism in the proximity of their host stars. Most T Tauri stars have strong magnetic fields which can clear out a cavity in the innermost regions of their circumstellar disks and impose magnetic induction on the…
Brown dwarfs occupy the important region in the mass range between stars and planets. Their existence, ambigious until only recently, and their properties give insight into stellar and planetary formation. We present statistical results of an infrared, coronagraphic survey of young, nearby stars that includes probable companions to three young G-type stars, Gl 503.2 (G2V), HD 102982 (G3V), and Gl 577 (G5V). The companion to Gl 577 is a possible binary brown dwarf, according to evolution ary models. A dynamical determination of the components' masses will be achievable in the near future and be…
Nearby young clusters are privileged places to study the star formation history. Over the last decade, the sigma-Orionis cluster has been a prime location for the study of young very low mass stars, substellar and isolated planetary mass objects and the determination of the initial mass function. To extend previous studies of this association to its core, we searched for ultracool members and new multiple systems within the 1.5'x1.5' central region of the cluster. We obtained deep multi-conjugate adaptive optics (MCAO) images of the core of the sigma-Orionis cluster with the prototype MCAO fac…
We study and review disk protoplanet interactions using local shearing box simulations. These suffer the disadvantage of having potential artefacts arising from periodic boundary conditions but the advantage, when compared to global simulations, of being able to capture much of the dynamics close to the protoplanet at high resolution for low computational cost. Cases with and without self sustained MHD turbulence are considered. The conditions for gap formation and the transition from type I migration are investigated and found to depend on whether the single parameter M_p R^3/(M_* H^3), with …
