Understanding disk evolution and dissipation is essential for studies of planet formation. Transition disks, i.e., disks with large dust cavities and gaps, are promising candidates of active evolution. About two dozen candidates, selected by their Spectral Energy Distribution (SED), have been confirmed to have dust cavities through millimeter interferometric imaging, but this sample is biased toward the brightest disks. The Spitzer surveys of nearby low-mass star-forming regions have resulted in more than 4000 young stellar objects (YSOs). Using color criteria, we selected a sample of ~150 candidates and an additional 40 candidates and known transition disks from the literature. The Spitzer data were complemented by new observations at longer wavelengths, including new JCMT and APEX submillimeter photometry, and WISE and Herschel-PACS mid- and far-infrared photometry. Furthermore, optical spectroscopy was obtained and stellar types were derived for 85% of the sample, including information from the literature. The SEDs were fit to a grid of RADMC-3D disk models with a limited number of parameters: disk mass, inner disk mass, scale height and flaring, and disk cavity radius, where the latter is the main parameter of interest. About 72% of our targets possibly have dust cavities based on the SED. The derived cavity sizes are consistent with imaging/modeling results in the literature, where available. Trends are found with the L_disk_ over L_*_ ratio and stellar mass and a possible connection with exoplanet orbital radii. A comparison with a previous study where color observables are used (Cieza et al., 2010, Cat. J/ApJ/712/925) reveals large overlap between their category of planet-forming disks and our transition disks with cavities. A large number of the new transition disk candidates are suitable for follow-up observations with ALMA.
Transit time of K2-146b and K2-146c with K2 and HPF
Short Name:
J/AJ/159/120
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
K2-146 is a cool, 0.358M_{sun}_ dwarf that was found to host a mini-Neptune with a 2.67day period. The planet exhibited strong transit timing variations (TTVs) of greater than 30minutes, indicative of the presence of an additional object in the system. Here we report the discovery of the previously undetected outer planet in the system, K2-146c, using additional photometric data. K2-146c was found to have a grazing transit geometry and a 3.97day period. The outer planet was only significantly detected in the latter K2 campaigns presumably because of precession of its orbital plane. The TTVs of K2-146b and c were measured using observations spanning a baseline of almost 1200days. We found strong anti-correlation in the TTVs, suggesting the two planets are gravitationally interacting. Our TTV and transit model analyses revealed that K2-146b has a radius of 2.25{+/-}0.10R_{earth}_ and a mass of 5.6{+/-}0.7M_{earth}_, whereas K2-146c has a radius of 2.59_-0.39_^+1.81^R_{earth} and a mass of 7.1{+/-}0.9M_{earth}_. The inner and outer planets likely have moderate eccentricities of e=0.14{+/-}0.07 and 0.16{+/-}0.07, respectively. Long-term numerical integrations of the two-planet orbital solution show that it can be dynamically stable for at least 2Myr. We show that the resonance angles of the planet pair are librating, which may be an indication that K2-146b and c are in a 3:2 mean motion resonance. The orbital architecture of the system points to a possible convergent migration origin.
Recent years have seen increasing interest in the characterization of sub-Neptune-sized planets because of their prevalence in the Galaxy, contrasted with their absence in our solar system. HD97658 is one of the brightest stars hosting a planet of this kind, and we present the transmission spectrum of this planet by combining four Hubble Space Telescope transits, 12 Spitzer/IRAC transits, and eight Microvariability and Oscillations of Stars Telescope (MOST) transits of this system. Our transmission spectrum has a higher signal-to-noise ratio than those from previous works, and the result suggests that the slight increase in transit depth from wavelength 1.1-1.7{mu}m reported in previous works on the transmission spectrum of this planet is likely systematic. Nonetheless, our atmospheric modeling results are inconclusive, as no model provides an excellent match to our data. Nonetheless, we find that atmospheres with high C/O ratios (C/O~>0.8) and metallicities of ~>100 solar metallicity are favored. We combine the mid-transit times from all of the new Spitzer and MOST observations and obtain an updated orbital period of P=9.489295{+/-}0.000005, with a best-fit transit time center at T0=2456361.80690{+/-}0.00038(BJD). No transit timing variations are found in this system. We also present new measurements of the stellar rotation period (34{+/-}2days) and stellar activity cycle (9.6yr) of the host star HD97658. Finally, we calculate and rank the Transmission Spectroscopy Metric of all confirmed planets cooler than 1000K and with sizes between 1R_{Earth}_ and 4R_{Earth}_. We find that at least a third of small planets cooler than 1000K can be well characterized using James Webb Space Telescope, and of those, HD97658b is ranked fifth, meaning that it remains a high-priority target for atmospheric characterization.
The physical properties of faint stellar and substellar objects often rely on indirect, model-dependent estimates. For example, the masses of brown dwarfs are usually inferred using evolutionary models, which are age dependent and have yet to be properly calibrated. With the goal of identifying new benchmark objects to test low-mass stellar and substellar models, we have carried out a comprehensive adaptive optics survey as part of the TaRgetting bENchmark-objects with the Doppler Spectroscopy (TRENDS) high-contrast imaging program. Using legacy radial velocity measurements from the High Resolution Echelle Spectrometer at Keck, we have identified several dozen stars that show long-term Doppler accelerations. We present follow-up high-contrast observations from the campaign and report the discovery of 31 comoving companions, as well as 11 strong candidate companions, to solar-type stars with well-determined parallax and metallicity values. Benchmark objects of this nature lend themselves to orbit determinations, dynamical mass estimates, and independent compositional assessment. This compendium of benchmark objects will serve as a convenient test group to substantiate theoretical evolutionary and atmospheric models near the hydrogen fusing limit.
We present a study of the evolution of the inner few astronomical units of protoplanetary disks around low-mass stars. We consider nearby stellar groups with ages spanning from 1 to 11Myr, distributed into four age bins. Combining PANSTARSS photometry with spectral types, we derive the reddening consistently for each star, which we use (1) to measure the excess emission above the photosphere with a new indicator of IR excess and (2) to estimate the mass accretion rate (dM/dt) from the equivalent width of the H{alpha} line. Using the observed decay of dM/dt as a constraint to fix the initial conditions and the viscosity parameter of viscous evolutionary models, we use approximate Bayesian modeling to infer the dust properties that produce the observed decrease of the IR excess with age, in the range between 4.5 and 24{mu}m. We calculate an extensive grid of irradiated disk models with a two-layered wall to emulate a curved dust inner edge and obtain the vertical structure consistent with the surface density predicted by viscous evolution. We find that the median dust depletion in the disk upper layers is {epsilon}~3x10^-3^ at 1.5Myr, consistent with previous studies, and it decreases to {epsilon}~3x10^-4^ by 7.5Myr. We include photoevaporation in a simple model of the disk evolution and find that a photoevaporative wind mass-loss rate of ~1-3x10^-9^M_{sun}_/yr agrees with the decrease of the disk fraction with age reasonably well. The models show the inward evolution of the H_2_O and CO snowlines.
We search for new T Tauri star (TTS) candidates with the mid-infrared (MIR) part of the AKARI All-Sky Survey at 9 and 18{mu}m wavelengths. We used the point source catalogue (PSC) obtained by the Infrared Camera (IRC) on board AKARI. We combined the 2MASS PSC and the 3rd version of the USNO CCD Astrograph Catalogue (UCAC) with the AKARI IRC-PSC, and surveyed 517 known TTSs over a 1800-square-degree part of the Taurus-Auriga region to develop criteria to extract TTSs. We considered asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, post-AGB stars, planetary nebulae (PNe), and galaxies, which have similar MIR colours, to separate TTSs from these sources. We finally searched for new TTS candidates from AKARI IRC-PSC in the same Taurus-Auriga region. Of the 517 known TTSs, we detected 133 sources with AKARI: 46 sources were not detected by IRAS. Based on the colour-colour and colour-magnitude diagrams made from the AKARI, 2MASS, and UCAC surveys, we propose the criteria to extract TTS candidates from the AKARI All-Sky data, and 68/133 AKARI detected TTSs have passed these criteria. On the basis of our criteria, we selected 176/14725 AKARI sources as TTS candidates that are located around the Taurus-Auriga region. Comparing these sources with SIMBAD, we found that 148 are previously identified sources including 115 young stellar objects (YSOs), and 28 unidentified sources. Based on SIMBAD identifications, we infer the TTS-identification probability using our criteria to be ~75%. We find 28 TTS candidates, of which we expect ~21 to be confirmed once follow-up observations can be obtained. Although the probability of ~75% is not so high, it is affected by the completeness of the SIMBAD database, and we can search for TTSs over the whole sky, and all star-forming regions.
Measurements of the protoplanetary disk frequency in young star clusters of different ages indicate disk lifetimes <10Myr. However, our current knowledge of how mass accretion in young stars evolves over the lifespans of disks is subject to many uncertainties, especially at the lower stellar masses. In this study, we investigate ongoing accretion activity in the TW Hydrae association (TWA), the closest association of pre-main sequence stars with active disks. The age (8-10Myr) and the proximity of the TWA render it an ideal target to probe the final stages of disk accretion down to brown dwarf masses. The study is based on homogeneous spectroscopic data from 300nm to 2500nm, obtained synoptically with X-shooter, which allows simultaneous derivation of individual extinction, stellar parameters, and accretion parameters for each star. The continuum excess emission diagnostics is used to estimate the accretion luminosities and mass accretion rates of our disk-bearing targets, and the shape and intensity of permitted and forbidden emission lines are analyzed to probe the physics of the star-disk interaction environment.
This catalog is a list of potential guide stars developed for a program to obtain more precise positions of objects in the IRC Two-Micron Sky Survey of Neguebauer and Leighton (1969). For each IRC source (col. 1), it gives: (col. 2) the identification of the star in the SAO catalog which is nearest, (col. 3) the great circle arc distance (in seconds) between the SAO star and the IRC source, (col. 4) the position angle (in degrees) of the IRC source relative to the SAO star, (col. 5) the plate number(s) of the POSS on which the IRC source appears, (col. 6,7) the approximate rectangular coordinates (in mm) of the IRC source on the POSS print area with respect to the Southwest corner, and (col. 8) the modified Luyten Palomar number. The POSS plate numbers given are for the red plates.
Stars of all evolutionary phases have been found to have excess infrared emission due to the presence of circumstellar material. To identify such stars, we have positionally correlated the infrared Mid-Course Space Experiment (MSX) Point Source Catalogue (<V/114>) and the Tycho-2 optical catalogue (<I/259>). Near-mid-infrared colour criteria have been developed to select infrared excess stars. The search yielded 1938 excess stars; over half (979) have never previously been detected by IRAS. The excess stars were found to be young objects such as Herbig Ae/Be and Be stars, and evolved objects such as OH/IR (infrared) and carbon stars. A number of B-type excess stars were also discovered whose infrared colours could not be readily explained by known catalogued objects.
Type 1 vs 2 X-ray-selected COSMOS AGNs & environment
Short Name:
J/ApJ/878/11
Date:
21 Oct 2021
Publisher:
CDS
Description:
The unified model of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) proposes that different AGN optical spectral types are caused by different viewing angles with respect to an obscuring "torus". Therefore, this model predicts that type 1 and type 2 AGNs should have similar host-galaxy properties. We investigate this prediction with 2463 X-ray-selected AGNs in the COSMOS field. We divide our sample into type 1 and type 2 AGNs based on their spectra, morphologies, and variability. We derive their host-galaxy stellar masses (M_*_) through spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting, and we find that the hosts M_*_ of type 1 AGNs tend to be slightly smaller than those of type 2 AGNs by {Delta}logM_*_~0.2dex (~4{sigma} significance). Besides deriving star formation rates (SFRs) from SED fitting, we also utilize far-infrared (FIR) photometry and a stacking method to obtain FIR-based SFRs. We find that the SFRs of type 1 and type 2 sources are similar once their redshifts and X-ray luminosities are controlled. We also investigate the cosmic environment, and we find that the surface number densities (sub-Mpc) and cosmic-web environments (~1-10Mpc) are similar for both populations. In summary, our analyses show that the host galaxies of type 1 and type 2 AGNs have similar SFRs and cosmic environments in general, but the former tend to have a lower M_*_ than the latter. The difference in M_*_ indicates that the AGN unification model is not strictly correct, and both host galaxy and torus may contribute to the optical obscuration of AGNs.
