Spitzer Space Telescope - Archive Research Proposal #50406


A closer look at protoplanetary disk structure

Principal Investigator: Nuria Calvet
           Institution: University of Michigan

     Technical Contact: Catherine Espaillat, University of Michigan

Co-Investigators: 
Catherine Espaillat, University of Michigan                           
Dan Watson, University of Michigan                                    
Lee Hartmann, University of Michigan                                  
Nathan Crockett, University of Michigan                               

Science Category: circumstellar/debris disks 
Dollars Approved: 125000 

Abstract:
We propose to model and interpret the SEDs of disks in Taurus and Chamaeleon,
including the IRS spectra and IRAC and MIPS photometry. These samples include
full disks, transitional disks, and pre-transitional disks, that is, disks in
different stages of evolution of their solid content. They include disks around
stars covering a range of stellar parameters, with masses from ~2.5 M_sun down
to the substellar limit, and mass accretion rates from a few 10^-7 M_sun/yr down
to a few 10^-10 M_sun/yr. We will use our irradiated accretion disk models
including dust settling, which successfully reproduce the range of emission
characteristics of young disks. Our self-consistent approach to model these
disks will give us the ability to compare derived dust properties among
different stellar and accretion parameters. This effort will provide
considerable insight into the mechanisms determining the disk structure and
evolution.