The Structure of Disks around Young Intermediate-Mass Stars

在这个项目中，佛罗里达大学的Charles Telesco博士将使用大型望远镜上的敏感红外探测器来研究赫比格Ae/Be型非常年轻的恒星周围的圆盘样本。这些恒星通常比我们的太阳大几倍。这项研究将集中在年龄小于几百万年的系统上。热成像和光谱学将探测被母星加热的尘埃粒子。这将追踪与我们太阳系大小相当的区域的条件，并将进一步提供有关行星系统诞生的信息。这项研究有几个目标，包括研究磁盘的形态，磁盘中颗粒材料的性质，尘埃颗粒的生长及其如何沉降到磁盘的中平面，以及不同类型磁盘之间的进化联系。确定星周盘的详细结构有望揭示行星正在形成或将形成的地方，这一过程中涉及的物质的状态，以及盘在其生命早期如何与行星相互作用。该项目将使佛罗里达大学的研究生有机会研究大型望远镜、最先进的仪器以及国际合作的动态。

In this project, Dr. Charles Telesco of the University of Florida will use sensitive infrared detectors on large telescopes to study a sample of disks surrounding very young stars of the Herbig Ae/Be type. These stars are typically a few times more massive than our Sun. This study will concentrate on systems that are less than a few million years in age. Thermal ("heat") imaging and spectroscopy will probe dust particles heated by the parent stars. This will trace the conditions in regions that are comparable in size to our Solar System, and will by extension provide information on the birth of planetary systems. There are several goals to this investigation, including the study of disk morphology, the properties of grain materials in the disk, the growth of dust particles and how these settle to the mid-plane of the disk, and the evolutionary connection between various types of disks. Determining the detailed structure of circumstellar disks is expected to reveal where planets are forming or will form, the state of the matter that is involved in that process, and how disks may interact with planets early in their lives. The program will expose University of Florida graduate students to research on large telescopes, state-of the art instrumentation, and the dynamics of international collaboration.