The Observed Diversity of YSO Disk Properties
First Author:
Bruno Merín
Email: bmerin AT sciops.esa.int
ESA
PO Box 78
E-28691 Villanueva de la Caņada, Madrid, Spain
Coauthors:
Oliveira, Isabel, Leiden Observatory
Brown, Joanna, MPE
Spezzi, Loredana, ESA
van Dishoeck, Ewine, Leiden Obervatory & MPE
Evans, Neal J., Texas University at Austin
Cieza, Lucas, University of Hawaii
Dullemond, Cornelis, MPIA
Alcala, Juan M., Capodimonte Observatory
Augereau, Jean-Charles, LAOG
Lahuis, Fred, SRON
Prusti, Timo, ESA
Harvey, Paul M., Texas University at Austin
Pontoppidan, Klaus M., CalTech
Geoffrey, Blake A., CalTech
Bottinelli, Sandrine, LAOG
Olofsson, Johan, LAOG
Dunham, Mike, Texas University at Austin
Geers, Vincent, Toronto University
Stapelfeldt, Karl R., JPL
Bast, Jeanette, Leiden Observatory
Abstract
The Spitzer data, with their wavelength coverage, offer an exceptional tool for studying the status and evolution of the inner zones in the disks around young stars (1-30 AU), where planets eventually form. We present the results on disk evolution from the `Cores to Disks' (c2d) Spitzer Legacy Program, which mapped five nearby star-forming regions from 3 to 70 microns and provides a large and magnitude-limited sample of 700 protoplanetary disks with ages smaller than 10 Myr. This data set is analyzed with the use of a new two-dimensional classification scheme which provides information on the detailed structure of the inner disks, such as grain growth, dust settling, dust depletion and/or presence of inner holes. A statistical description of the different types of disks and their corresponding time-scales is presented. Finally, the characteristics and incidence of the cold or transitional disks (disks with inner holes with the size of the Solar System) in these observations is studied and compared statistically with the properties of the remaining disk sample in the same star-forming regions to search for conditions favorable for early inner disk evolution and possibly efficient planet formation.
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