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| Paper: |
Identifying Planet-Forming Disks Around Young Stars |
| Volume: |
472, New Quests in Stellar Astrophysics III: A Panchromatic View of Solar-like Stars, With and Without Planets |
| Page: |
13 |
| Authors: |
Espaillat, C. |
| Abstract: |
In the past few years, several disks with inner holes that are
relatively empty of small dust grains have been detected and are known
as transitional disks. Spitzer identified a new
class of “pre-transitional disks" with gaps; these objects have an optically
thick inner disk separated from an optically thick outer disk by an
optically thin disk gap.
Here we review spectral observations which provided the first
confirmations of gaps in the pre-transitional disks of LkCa 15 and UX Tau A.
We also review the results of a Spitzer IRS study of variability in
transitional and pre-transitional objects.
The structure and behavior of pre-transitional and transitional disks may be a sign of young
planets forming in these disks and future studies of these
disks will provide constraints to aid in theoretical modeling of planet
formation. |
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