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Disk Evolution in Cep OB2: Results from the Spitzer Space TelescopeWe presented the results of an infrared imaging survey of Tr 37 and NGC 7160 using the IRAC and MIPS instruments on board the Spitzer Space Telescope. Our observations cover the wavelength range from 3.6 to 24 microns, allowing us to detect disk emission over a typical range of radii 0.1 to 20 AU from the central star. In Tr 37, with an age of about 4 Myr, about 48% of the low-mass stars exhibit detectable disk emission in the IRAC bands. Roughly 10% of the stars with disks may be "transition" objects, with essentially photospheric fluxes at wavelengths i 4.5 microns but with excesses at longer wavelengths, indicating an optically thin inner disk. The median optically thick disk emission in Tr 37 is lower than the corresponding median for stars in the younger Taurus region; the decrease in infrared excess is larger at 6-8 microns than at 24 microns, suggesting that grain growth and/or dust settling has proceeded faster at smaller disk radii, as expected on general theoretical grounds. Only about 4% of the low-mass stars in the 10 Myr old cluster NGC 7160 show detectable infrared disk emission. We also find evidence for 24 micron excesses around a few intermediate-mass stars, which may represent so-called "debris disk" systems. Our observations provided new constraints on disk evolution through an important age range.
Document ID
20070031581
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Sicilia-Aguilar Aurora
(Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Cambridge, MA, United States)
Hartmann, Lee W.
(Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Cambridge, MA, United States)
Calvet Nuria
(Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Cambridge, MA, United States)
Megeath, S. T.
(Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Cambridge, MA, United States)
Muzerolle, James
(Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Allen, Lori
(Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Cambridge, MA, United States)
D'Alessio, Paola
(Centro de Radioastronomia y Astrofisica Michoacan, Mexico)
Merin, Bruno
(Sterrewacht Leien Leiden, Netherlands)
Stauffer, John
(California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Lada, Charles
(Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory Cambridge, MA, United States)
Young, Erick
(Arizona Univ. Tucson, AZ, United States)
Date Acquired
August 23, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2006
Publication Information
Publication: The Astrophysical Journal
Publisher: American Astronomical Society
Volume: 638
Subject Category
Astronomy
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG5-13210
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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