We studied the disc of the unclassified B[e] star HD 50138, in order to explore its structure, and to find indications for the evolutionary status of this system, whether it is a young Herbig Be or a post-main-sequence star. Using high spatial resolution interferometric measurements from MIDI instrument (N-band) on the Very Large Telescope Interferometer, we analysed the disc size, the time-variability of the disc's thermal emission, and the spectral shape of the $10~μ$m silicate feature. By fitting simple disc models, we determined the inclination and the mid-infrared size of the disc, confirming earlier results based on a lower number of observations. We searched for mid-infrared temporal variability of different regions of the disc, and concluded that its morphology is not experiencing significant changes over the observed epochs. We characterized the mid-infrared silicate feature by determining the feature amplitude and the $11.3/9.8~μ$m flux ratio. The latter parameter is a good indicator of the grain size. The shape of the feature suggests the presence of crystalline silicate grains in the disc. The interferometric data revealed a strong radial trend in the mineralogy: while the disc's innermost region seems to be dominated by forsterite grains, at intermediate radii both forsterite and enstatite may be present. The outer disc may predominantly contain amorphous silicate particles. A comparison of the observed spectral shape with that of a sample of intermediate-mass stars (supergiants, Herbig Ae/Be stars, unclassified B[e] stars) implied that the evolutionary state of HD 50138 cannot be unambiguously decided from mid-IR spectroscopy.
HD 50138 is a southern star that presents the B[e] phenomenon, but its evolutionary stage is still not well known. This object presents spectral variability, which can be explained by outbursts or shell phases and spectropolarimetric observations have shown the presence of a non-spherically symmetric circumstellar environment that is responsible for the B[e] phenomenon. Based on recent optical long baseline interferometric observations from the VLTI/MIDI and VLTI/AMBER, and also from the Keck segment-tilting experiment, we study the structure of the circumstellar environment of HD 50138, throu…
We investigated 12 unclassified B[e] stars or candidates, 8 from the Galaxy, 2 from the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and 2 from the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). Based on the analysis of high-resolution spectroscopic (FEROS) and photometric data, we confirmed the presence of the B[e] phenomenon for all objects of our sample, except for one (IRAS 07455-3143). We derived their effective temperature, spectral type, luminosity class, interstellar extinction and, using the distances from Gaia DR2, we obtained their bolometric magnitude, luminosity and radius. Modeling of the forbidden lines present…
Context: FS Canis Majoris (FS CMa, HD 45677) is an unclassified B[e] star surrounded by an inclined dust disk. The evolutionary stage of FS CMa is still debated. Perpendicular to the circumstellar disk, a bipolar outflow was detected. Infrared aperture-synthesis imaging provides us with a unique opportunity to study the disk structure. Aims: Our aim is to study the intensity distribution of the disk of FS CMa in the mid-infrared L and N bands. Methods: We performed aperture-synthesis imaging of FS CMa with the MATISSE instrument (Multi AperTure mid-Infrared SpectroScopic Experiment) in the low…
HD 50138 presents the B[e] phenomenon, but its nature is not clear yet. This star is known to present spectral variations, which have been associated with outbursts and shell phases. We analyze the line profile variability of HD 50138 and its possible origin, which provide possible hints to its evolutionary stage, so far said to be close to the end of (or slightly beyond) the main sequence. New high-resolution spectra of HD 50138 obtained with the HERMES spectrograph over several nights (five of them consecutively) were analyzed, allowing us to confirm short-term line profile variability. Our …
The observed spectral variation of HD 50138 has led different authors to classify it in a very wide range of spectral types and luminosity classes (from B5 to A0 and III to Ia) and at different evolutionary stages as either HAeBe star or classical Be. Aims: Based on new high-resolution optical spectroscopic data from 1999 and 2007 associated to a photometric analysis, the aim of this work is to provide a deep spectroscopic description and a new set of parameters for this unclassified southern B[e] star and its interstellar extinction. Methods: From our high-resolution optical spectroscopic dat…
Thanks to the high spatial resolution provided by long baseline interferometry, it is possible to understand the complex circumstellar geometry around stars with the B[e] phenomenon. These stars are composed by objects in different evolutionary stages, like high- and low-mass evolved stars, intermediate-mass pre-main sequence stars and symbiotic objects. However, up to now more than 50% of the confirmed B[e] stars are not well classified, being called unclassified B[e] stars. From instruments like VLTI/AMBER and VLTI/MIDI, we have identified the presence of gaseous and dusty circumstellar disk…
We present results from combining a grid-based radiative transfer code with a Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics code to produce a flexible system for modelling radiation hydrodynamics. We use a benchmark model of a circumstellar disc to determine a robust method for constructing a gridded density distribution from SPH particles. The benchmark disc is then used to determine the accuracy of the radiative transfer results. We find that the SED and the temperature distribution within the disc are sensitive to the representation of the disc inner edge, which depends critically on both the grid and SP…
This study inspects the influence of various effects and free parameters of the accretion disc and circumstellar material on the emerging light curve of eclipsing binary systems that have a circumstellar disc, by using the SHELLSPEC code. The results indicate that some of the parameters namely the temperature and inclination of the disc, spot, jet, stream and shell significantly affect on the emerging light curve while some other parameters namely the exponent of the power-law behavior of the density of the disc, microturbulence, inner and outer radius of the disc don't noticeably affect on th…
We extend our previous study of radiative ablation of circumstellar disks by line-scattering of the star's radiation, accounting now for the effect of multiple line resonances off the stellar limb. For an analytic, three-dimensional model of the velocity structure of an equatorial Keplerian disk bounded at higher latitudes by a radially accelerating stellar wind outflow, we use root-finding methods to identify multiple resonances from a near-disk circumstellar location along starward rays both on and off the stellar core. Compared to our previous study that accounted only for the effect of on-…
Circumstellar discs of Be stars are thought to be formed from material ejected from a fast-spinning central star. This material possesses large amounts of angular momentum and settles in a quasi-Keplerian orbit around the star. This simple description outlines the basic issues that a successful disc theory must address: 1) What is the mechanism responsible for the mass ejection? 2) What is the final configuration of the material? 3) How the disc grows? With the very high angular resolution that can be achieved with modern interferometers operating in the optical and infrared we can now resolve…
We present the results of a multi-wavelength study of circumstellar discs around 44 young stellar objects in the 3 Myr old nearby Chamaeleon I star-forming region. In particular, we explore the far-infrared/submm regime using Herschel fluxes. We show that Herschel fluxes at 160-500$\,μ$m can be used to derive robust estimates of the disc mass. The median disc mass is 0.005$M_{\odot}$ for a sample of 28 Class IIs and 0.006$M_{\odot}$ for 6 transition disks (TDs). The fraction of objects in Chamaeleon-I with at least the `minimum mass solar nebula' is 2-7%. This is consistent with previously pub…
We have analysed a sample of 23 hot DAs to better understand the source of the circumstellar features reported in previous work. Unambiguous detections of circumstellar material are again made at eight stars. The velocities of the circumstellar material at three of the white dwarfs are coincident with the radial velocities of ISM along the sight line to the stars, suggesting that the objects may be ionising the ISM in their locality. In three further cases, the circumstellar velocities are close to the ISM velocities, indicating that these objects are either ionising the ISM, or evaporated pla…
Most stars are born in clusters and the resulting gravitational interactions between cluster members may significantly affect the evolution of circumstellar discs and therefore the formation of planets and brown dwarfs. Recent findings suggest that tidal perturbations of typical circumstellar discs due to close encounters may inhibit rather than trigger disc fragmentation and so would seem to rule out planet formation by external tidal stimuli. However, the disc models in these calculations were restricted to disc radii of 40 AU and disc masses below 0.1 M_sun. Here we show that even modest en…
In this paper we present simulated Atacama Large Millimetre/sub-millimetre Array (ALMA) observations of self-gravitating circumstellar discs with different properties in size, mass and inclination, located in four of the most extensively studied and surveyed star-forming regions. Starting from a Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) simulation and representative dust opacities, we have initially constructed maps of the expected emission at sub-mm wavelengths of a large sample of discs with different properties. We have then simulated realistic observations of discs as they may appear with ALMA…
We investigate the nature of the unusual eclipsing star OGLE LMC-ECL-11893 (OGLE J05172127-6900558) in the Large Magellanic Cloud recently reported by Dong et al. 2014. The eclipse period for this star is 468 days, and the eclipses exhibit a minimum of ~1.4 mag, preceded by a plateau of ~0.8 mag. Spectra and optical/IR photometry are consistent with the eclipsed star being a lightly reddened B9III star of inferred age ~150 Myr and mass of ~4 solar masses. The disk appears to have an outer radius of ~0.2 AU with predicted temperatures of ~1100-1400 K. We model the eclipses as being due to eithe…
In studying the formation of massive stars, it is essential to consider the strong radiative feedback on the stars' natal environments from their high luminosities ($10^4 \sim 10^6 L_\odot$). Given that massive stars contract to main-sequence-like radii before accretion finishes, one form this feedback takes is UV line-acceleration, resulting in outflows much like those expected from main-sequence massive stars. As shown by the prior papers in this series, in addition to driving stellar winds, such line forces also ablate the surface layers off of circumstellar discs within a few stellar radii…
We investigate the circumstellar disc fraction as determined from L-band excess observations of the young, massive Arches and Quintuplet clusters residing in the central molecular zone of the Milky Way. The Quintuplet cluster was searched for L-band excess sources for the first time. We find a total of 26 excess sources in the Quintuplet cluster and 21 in the Arches cluster, of which 13 are new detections. With the aid of proper motion membership samples, the disc fraction of the Quintuplet cluster was derived for the first time to be 4.0 +/- 0.7%. There is no evidence for a radially varying d…
We investigate the flow of material from highly misaligned and polar circumbinary discs that feed the formation of circumstellar discs around each binary component. With three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations we consider equal mass binaries with low eccentricity. We also simulate inclined test particles and highly-misaligned circumstellar discs around one binary component for comparison. During Kozai-Lidov (KL) cycles, the circumstellar disc structure is altered through exchanges of disc eccentricity with disc tilt. Highly inclined circumstellar discs and test particles around individual b…
Recent observations uncover various phenomena around the protostar such as misalignment between the outflow and magnetic field, precession of the jet, and time variability of the ejected clumps, whose origins are under debate. We perform a three-dimensional resistive magnetohydrodynamics simulation of the protostar formation in a star-forming core whose rotation axis is tilted at an angle $45^\circ$ with respect to the initial magnetic field, in which the protostar is resolved with a spatial resolution of $0.01\,$au. In low-dense outer region, the prestellar core contracts along the magnetic f…
Aims. In this paper we model, in a self-consistent way, polarimetric, photometric, spectrophotometric and interferometric observations of the classical Be star $ζ$ Tauri. Our primary goal is to conduct a critical quantitative test of the global oscillation scenario. Methods. We have carried out detailed three-dimensional, NLTE radiative transfer calculations using the radiative transfer code HDUST. For the input for the code we have used the most up-to-date research on Be stars to include a physically realistic description for the central star and the circumstellar disc. We adopt a rotationall…
Disks are ubiquitous in stellar astronomy, and play a crucial role in the formation and evolution of stars. In this contribution we present an overview of the most recent results, with emphasis on high spatial and spectral resolution. We will start with a general discussion on direct versus indirect detection of disks, and then traverse the HR diagram starting with the pre-Main Sequence and ending with evolved stars.
Milliarcsecond VLBI maps of regions containing 6.7 GHz methanol maser emission have lead to the recent discovery of ring-like distributions of maser spots and the plausible hypothesis that they may be tracing circumstellar disks around forming high mass stars. We aimed to test this hypothesis by imaging these regions in the near and mid-infrared at high spatial resolution and compare the observed emission to the expected infrared morphologies as inferred from the geometries of the maser rings. In the near infrared we used the Gemini North adaptive optics system of Altair/NIRI, while in the mid…
Recent observations of Cepheids using infrared interferometry and Spitzer photometry have detected the presence of circumstellar envelopes (CSE) of dust and it has been hypothesized that the CSE's are due to dust forming in a Cepheid wind. Here we use a modified Castor, Abbott & Klein formalism to produce a Cepheid wind, and this is used to estimate the contribution of mass loss to the Cepheid mass discrepancy Furthermore, we test the OGLE-III Classical Cepheids using the IR fluxes from the SAGE survey to determine if Large Magellanic Cloud Cepheids have CSE's. It is found that IR excess is a …
Context. The circumstellar environment of evolved stars is generally rich in molecular gas and dust. Typically, the entire environment is either oxygen-rich or carbon-rich, depending on the evolution of the central star. Aims. In this paper we discuss three evolved disc sources with evidence of atypical emission lines in their infrared spectra. The stars were taken from a larger sample of post-AGB binaries for which we have Spitzer infrared spectra, characterised by the presence of a stable oxygen-rich circumbinary disc. Our previous studies have shown that the infrared spectra of post-AGB dis…
I will review our recent analysis of the magnetic properties of the O9IV star HD 57682, using spectropolarimetric observations obtained with ESPaDOnS at the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope within the context of the Magnetism in Massive Stars (MiMeS) Large Program. I discuss our most recent determination of the rotational period from longitudinal magnetic field measurements and Halpha variability - the latter obtained from over a decade's worth of professional and amateur spectroscopic observations. Lastly, I will report on our investigation of the magnetic field geometry and the effects of the …
We will review our recent analysis of the magnetic properties of the O9IV star HD 57682, using spectropolarimetric observations obtained with ESPaDOnS at the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope within the context of the Magnetism in Massive Stars (MiMeS) Large Program. We discuss our most recent determination of the rotational period from longitudinal magnetic field measurements and H_alpha variability - the latter obtained from over a decade's worth of professional and amateur spectroscopic observations. Lastly, we report on our investigation of the magnetic field geometry and the effects of the f…
We discuss and illustrate contributions that optical interferometry has made on our current understanding of cool evolved stars. We include red giant branch (RGB) stars, asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, and red supergiants (RSGs). Studies using optical interferometry from visual to mid-infrared wavelengths have greatly increased our knowledge of their atmospheres, extended molecular shells, dust formation, and winds. These processes and the morphology of the circumstellar environment are important for the further evolution of these stars toward planetary nebulae (PNe) and core-collapse sup…
HD179821 is an enigmatic evolved star that possesses characteristics of both a post-asymptotic giant branch star and a yellow hyper-giant, and there has been no evidence that unambiguously defines its nature. These two hypotheses are products of an indeterminate distance, presumed to be 1 kpc or 6 kpc. We have obtained the two-epoch Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 data of its circumstellar shell, which shows multiple concentric arcs extending out to about 8 arcsec. We have performed differential proper-motion measurements on distinct structures within the circumstellar shell of this mysterious st…
This paper is framed within a large project devoted to studying the presence of circumstellar material around main sequence stars, and looking for exocometary events. The work concentrates on HR 10 (A2 IV/V), known for its conspicuous variability in the circumstellar narrow absorption features of Ca II K and other lines, so far interpreted as $β$ Pic-like phenomena, within the falling evaporating body scenario. The main goal of this paper is to carry out a thorough study of HR 10 to find the origin of the observed variability, determine the nature of the star, its absolute parameters, and evol…
Context. Stellar physical properties of star clusters are poorly known. Aims. Our goals are to perform a spectrophotometric study of the B star population in open clusters to derive accurate stellar parameters, search for the presence of circumstellar envelopes, and discuss the characteristics of these stars. Methods. The BCD spectrophotometric system is a powerful tool to obtain fundamental parameters and infer the main properties of open clusters: distance modulus, color excess, and age. We inspected the Balmer discontinuity to seek circumstellar disks and identify Be-star candidates. High r…
We present HI line profiles for various models of circumstellar shells around red giants. In the calculations we take into account the effect of the background at 21 cm, and show that in some circumstances it may have an important effect on the shape and intensity of the observed line profiles. We show that self-absorption should also be considered depending on the mass loss rate and the temperature reached by circumstellar gas. HI emission from circumstellar shells has been mostly reported from stars with mass loss rates around 10$^{-7}$ solar masses per year. We discuss the possible reasons …
B[e] supergiants are luminous, massive post-main sequence stars exhibiting non-spherical winds, forbidden lines, and hot dust in a disc-like structure. The physical properties of their rich and complex circumstellar environment (CSE) are not well understood, partly because these CSE cannot be easily resolved at the large distances found for B[e] supergiants (typically $\ga 1$~kpc). From mid-IR spectro-interferometric observations obtained with VLTI/MIDI we seek to resolve and study the CSE of the Galactic B[e] supergiant CPD-57\degr\,2874. For a physical interpretation of the observables (visi…
V4332 Sgr experienced an outburst in 1994 whose observational characteristics in many respects resemble those of the eruption of V838 Mon in 2002. It has been proposed that these objects erupted because of a stellar-merger event. Our aim is to derive, from observational data, information on the present (10-15 yrs after the outburst) nature and structure of the object. We present and analyse a high-resolution (R = 21 000) spectrum of V4332 Sgr obtained with the Subaru Telescope in June 2009. Various components (stellar-like continuum, atomic emission lines, molecular bands in emission) in the s…
Spectropolarimetric surveys reveal that 8-10\% of OBA stars harbor large-scale magnetic fields, but thus far no such fields have been detected in any classical Be stars. Motivated by this, we present here MHD simulations for how a pre-existing Keplerian disc -- like that inferred to form from decretion of material from rapidly rotating Be stars -- can be disrupted by a rotation-aligned stellar dipole field. For characteristic stellar and disc parameters of a near-critically rotating B2e star, we find that a polar surface field strength of just 10 G can significantly disrupt the disc, while a f…
Gaseous metal discs around single white dwarfs have been discovered recently. They are thought to develop from disrupted planetary bodies. Spectroscopic analyses will allow us to study the composition of extrasolar planetary material. We investigate in detail the first object for which a gas disc was discovered (SDSS J122859.93+104032.9). Therefor we perform non-LTE modelling of viscous gas discs by computing the detailed vertical structure and line spectra. The models are composed of carbon, oxygen, magnesium, silicon, calcium, and hydrogen with chemical abundances typical for Solar System as…
We present new Herschel/PACS images at 70, 100, and 160 micron of the well-known, nearby, carbon-rich asymptotic giant branch star IRC+10216 revealing multiple dust shells in its circumstellar envelope. For the first time, dust shells (or arcs) are detected until 320 arcsec. The almost spherical shells are non-concentric and have an angular extent between 40 deg and 200 deg. The shells have a typical width of 5 arcsec - 8 arcsec, and the shell separation varies in the range of 10 arcsec - 35 arcsec, corresponding to 500-1700 yr. Local density variations within one arc are visible. The shell/in…
Circumstellar discs are thought to be self-gravitating at very early times. If the disc is relatively cool, extended and accreting sufficiently rapidly, it can fragment into bound objects of order a few Jupiter masses and upwards. Given that the fragment's initial angular momentum is non-zero, and it will continue to accrete angular momentum from the surrounding circumstellar disc, we should expect that the fragment will also possess a relatively massive disc at early times. Therefore, we can ask: is disc fragmentation a hierarchical process? Or, can a disc fragment go on to produce its own se…
Recent observations have shown that circumstellar and circumbinary discs in young stellar binaries are often misaligned with respect to the binary orbital plane. We analyze the tidal truncation of such misaligned discs due to torques applied to the disc at the Lindblad resonances from the tidal forcings of the binary. We consider eccentric binaries with arbitrary binary-disc inclination angles. We determine the dependence of the tidal forcing strengths on the binary parameters and show that they are complicated non-monotonic functions of eccentricity and inclination. We adopt a truncation crit…
White dwarfs whose atmospheres are polluted by terrestrial-like planetary debris have become a powerful and unique tool to study evolved planetary systems. This paper presents results for an unbiased Spitzer IRAC search for circumstellar dust orbiting a homogeneous and well-defined sample of 134 single white dwarfs. The stars were selected without regard to atmospheric metal content but were chosen to have 1) hydrogen rich atmospheres, 2) 17 000 K < T_eff < 25 000 K and correspondingly young post main-sequence ages of 15-270Myr, and 3) sufficient far-ultraviolet brightness for a corresponding …
Discs of gas and dust surrounding young stars are the birthplace of planets. However, direct detection of protoplanets forming within discs has proved elusive to date. We present the detection of a large, localized deviation from Keplerian velocity in the protoplanetary disc surrounding the young star HD163296. The observed velocity pattern is consistent with the dynamical effect of a two Jupiter-mass planet orbiting at a radius $\approx$ 260au from the star.
We perform coagulation & fragmentation simulations to understand grain growth in T Tauri & brown dwarf discs. We present a physically-motivated approach using a probability distribution function for the collision velocities and separating the deterministic & stochastic velocities. We find growth to larger sizes compared to other models. Furthermore, if brown dwarf discs are scaled-down versions of T Tauri discs (in terms of stellar & disc mass, and disc radius), growth at the same location with respect to the outer edge occurs to similar sizes in both discs.
Circumstellar discs are expected to be the nursery of planets. Grain growth within such discs is the first step in the planet formation process in the core-accretion gas-capture scenario. We aim at providing selected criteria on observational quantities derived from multi-wavelength imaging observations that allow to identify dust grain growth and settling. We define a wide-ranged parameter space of discs in various states of their evolution. Using a parametrised model set-up and radiative transfer techniques we compute multi-wavelength images of discs at different inclinations. Using millimet…
In this paper we present simulated observations of massive self-gravitating circumstellar discs using the Atacama Large Millimetre/sub-millimetre Array (ALMA). Using a smoothed particle hydrodynamics model of a $0.2M_{\odot}$ disc orbiting a $1M_{\odot}$ protostar, with a cooling model appropriate for discs at temperatures below $\sim 160$K and representative dust opacities, we have constructed maps of the expected emission at sub-mm wavelengths. We have then used the CASA ALMA simulator to generate simulated images and visibilities with various array configurations and observation frequencies…
Here we report our first spectral observations of Be/X-ray and gamma-ray binaries obtained with the new Echelle spectrograph of the National Astronomical Observatory Rozhen. For four objects (LSI+61303, gamma Cas, MWC 148, 4U 2206+54), we report the parameters and estimate the sizes of their circumstellar discs using different emission lines (H-alpha, H-beta, H-gamma, HeI and FeII). For MWC 148, we find that the compact object goes deeply through the disc. The flank inflections of H-alpha can be connected with inner ring formed at the periastron passage or radiation transfer effects. We point …
We investigate the formation and evolution of a first core, protostar, and circumstellar disc with a three-dimensional non-ideal (including both Ohmic and ambipolar diffusion) radiation magnetohydrodynamics simulation. We found that the magnetic flux is largely removed by magnetic diffusion in the first core phase and that the plasma $β$ of the centre of the first core becomes large, $β>10^4$. Thus, proper treatment of first core phase is crucial in investigating the formation of protostar and disc. On the other hand, in an ideal simulation, $β\sim 10$ at the centre of the first core. The simu…
We present new spectroscopic observations of the Be/black hole binary MWC 656 obtained during the period 2015 - 2021. We measure the equivalent width of H$α$ (EW$_α$), H$β$ ($EW_β$), and the distance between the peaks of H$α$ ($ΔV_α$), H$β$ ($ΔV_β$), and FeII ($ΔV_{FeII}$) lines. Combining new and old data, we find that: - the density of the circumstellar disc of MWC 656 ($ΔV_α$ versus $EW_α$ diagram) is similar to the Be stars. For the Be stars we find the relation $ΔV_β= 0.999 ΔV_α+ 62.4$ km s$^{-1}$, and the position of MWC~656 corresponds to the average behaviour of the Be stars. This mean…
The young star Elias 2-27 has recently been observed to posses a massive circumstellar disc with two prominent large-scale spiral arms. In this Letter we perform three-dimensional Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics simulations, radiative transfer modelling, synthetic ALMA imaging and an unsharped masking technique to explore three possibilities for the origin of the observed structures -- an undetected companion either internal or external to the spirals, and a self-gravitating disc. We find that a gravitationally unstable disc and a disc with an external companion can produce morphology that is …
We present long term H$α$ monitoring results of five Be/X-ray binaries to study the Be disc size variations and their influence on Type II (giant) X-ray outbursts. The work is done in the context of the viscous decretion disc model which predicts that Be discs in binary systems are truncated by resonant torques induced by the neutron star in its orbit. Our observations show that type II outbursts are not correlated(nor anti-correlated) with the disc size, as they are seen to occur both at relatively small and large Be disc radii. We discuss these observations in context of alternate interpreta…
We observed the K7 class III star NO Lup in an ALMA survey of the 1-3 Myr Lupus association and detected circumstellar dust and CO gas. Here we show that the J = 3-2 CO emission is both spectrally and spatially resolved, with a broad velocity width ${\sim}19$kms$^{-1}$ for its resolved size ${\sim}1''$ (${\sim}130$ au). We model the gas emission as a Keplerian disc, finding consistency, but only with a central mass of ${\sim}11M_{\odot}$, which is implausible given its spectral type and X-Shooter spectrum. A good fit to the data can also be found by modelling the CO emission as outflowing gas …
We report the discovery of a square axisymmetric circumstellar nebula around the emission-line star HD 93795 in archival Spitzer Space Telescope 24 micron data. We classify HD 93795 as an B9 Ia star using optical spectra obtained with the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT). A spectral analysis carried out with the stellar atmosphere code FASTWIND indicates that HD 93795 only recently left the main sequence and is evolving redward for the first time. We discuss possible scenarios for the origin of the nebula and suggest that HD 93795 was originally a binary system and that the nebula was f…
The excess emission seen in spectral energy distributions (SEDs) is commonly used to infer the properties of the emitting circumstellar dust in protoplanetary and debris discs. Most notably, dust size distributions and details of the collision physics are derived from SED slopes at long wavelengths. This paper reviews the approximations that are commonly used and contrasts them with numerical results for the thermal emission. The inferred size distribution indexes are shown to be greater and more sensitive to the observed sub(mm) spectral indexes than previously considered. This effect results…
Circumstellar discs are expected to be the nursery of planets. Grain growth within such discs is the first step in the planet formation process. The Bok globule CB 26 harbours such a young disc. We present a detailed model of the edge-on circumstellar disc and its envelope in the Bok globule CB 26. The model is based on HST near-infrared maps in the I, J, H, and K bands, OVRO and SMA radio maps at 1.1mm, 1.3mm and 2.7mm, and the spectral energy distribution (SED) from 0.9 microns to 3mm. New photometric and spectroscopic data from the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Caltech Submilimeter Observ…
We present results from the first three-dimensional radiation hydrodynamical calculations to follow the collapse of a molecular cloud core beyond the formation of the stellar core. We find the energy released by the formation of the stellar core, within the optically-thick first hydrostatic core, is comparable to the binding energy of the disc-like first core. This heats the inner regions of the disc, drives a shock wave through the disc, dramatically decreases the accretion rate on to the stellar core, and launches a temporary bipolar outflow perpendicular to the rotation axis that travels in…
The Galactic Centre is known to have undergone a recent star formation episode a few Myrs ago, which likely produced many T Tauri stars hosting circumstellar discs. It has been suggested that these discs may be the compact and dusty ionized sources identified as ``G-clouds''. Given the Galactic Centre's hostile environment, we study the possible evolutionary pathways these discs experience. We compute new external photoevaporation models applicable to discs in the Galactic Centre that account for the sub-sonic launching of the wind and absorption of UV photons by dust. Using evolutionary disc …
Using HST-COS FUV spectra, we have discovered warm molecular hydrogen in the TWA 7 system. TWA 7, a $\sim$9 Myr old M2.5 star, has a cold debris disk and has previously shown no signs of accretion. Molecular hydrogen is expected to be extremely rare in a debris disk. While molecular hydrogen can be produced in star spots or the lower chromospheres of cool stars such as TWA 7, fluxes from progressions that get pumped by the wings of Ly$α$ indicate that this molecular hydrogen could be circumstellar and thus that TWA 7 is accreting at very low levels and may retain a reservoir of gas in the near…
The current picture painted by the observations of circumstellar dust at white dwarfs, and the consequent atmospheric pollution, is of a surviving planetary system. This chapter recounts in detail both the discovery and empirical characterization of dust disks at single white dwarfs, including all observational data available up to early 2011. Observations of the disks themselves and the accreted heavy elements within the stellar photospheres are consistent with tidally disrupted asteroid analogs. The observed chemistry supports objects that condensed within the inner regions of main-sequence …
