Observational Evidence for Grain Growth in CS Discs
First Author:
Gwendolyn Meeus
Email: gwen AT aip.de
AIP
An der Sternwarte 16
14482 Potsdam, Germany
Coauthors:
Juhasz, Attila, MPIA
Henning, Thomas, MPIA
Bouwman, Jeroen, MPIA
Abstract
Observations of dust emission in young, circumstellar (CS) discs have shown that the dust in those discs is much larger than that found in the interstellar medium, where the disc material originates from. Theoretical models of dust processing predict that the dust located in the hot surface of flaring discs will grow and settle into the disc mid-plane. It is in the denser mid-plane regions of the discs that planets are expected to form, in a process that starts with grain growth, continues with the formation of meter-sized objects and eventually the building of planetesimals. This work concentrates on the initial steps of planet formation, by discussing observational evidence of grain growth in discs of young (age < 10 Myrs) objects. The discs are located around stars with a wide range in mass, from the Herbig Ae/Be stars (a few Solar Masses), over the T Tauri stars(Solar-Mass) down to the Brown Dwarfs (Masses below 0.08 Msun). In this poster, I will discuss the impact of stellar parameters, such as age, mass, luminosity and the presence of close companions on dust grain evolution. I will do so by a comparison of dust properties - as witnessed by the observed dust characteristics - of objects in a single star forming region (influence of mass, luminosity, companions) but also by comparing dust properties of objects located in different regions (influence of age and environment).
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