Do X-Rays modify the Crystalline Structure of Dust in Circumstellar Disks
First Author:
Adrian Glauser
Email: ag AT roe.ac.uk
ETH Zurich and UK Astronomy Technology Centre
Royal Observatory Edinburgh, Blackford Hill
Edinburgh, EH9 3HJ, United Kingdom
Coauthors:
Guedel, Manuel, ETH Zurich
Watson, Dan, University of Rochester
Schegerer, Alexander, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Henning, Thomas, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Juhasz, Attila, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy
Wolf, Sebastian, University of Kiel
Audard, Marc, Observatoire de Geneve
Baldovin Saavedra, Carla, Observatoire de Geneve
Abstract
High-energy irradiation of the circumstellar material might have impact on the structure and the composition of the protoplanetary disk and hence the process of star and planet formation. We present a study on the possible influence of the stellar X-ray emission on the crystalline structure of the circumstellar dust. We measure the dust crystallinity for 42 class II T Tauri stars in the Taurus star-forming region with adecompositional fit of the 10 micron Si feature, measured with the Spitzer IRS instrument. We then correlate X-ray parameters, i.e. the X-ray luminosity and the X-ray hardness, against the crystalline mass fraction of the dust and find a significant anti-correlation for objects within an age range of 1.2 to 3 Myr. We conclude that X-rays destruct the crystalline structure of dust grains, located in the protoplanetary disk.
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