Panchromatic Imaging of a Transitional Disk: The Disk of GM Aur in Optical and FUV Scattered Light

Abstract

We have imaged GM Aur with HST, detected its disk in scattered light at 1400A and 1650A, and compared these with observations at 3300A, 5550A, 1.1 microns, and 1.6 microns. The scattered light increases at shorter wavelengths. The radial surface brightness profile at 3300A shows no evidence of the 24AU radius cavity that has been previously observed in sub-mm observations. Comparison with dust grain opacity models indicates the surface of the entire disk is populated with sub-micron grains. We have compiled an SED from 0.1 microns to 1 mm, and used it to constrain a model of the star+disk system that includes the sub-mm cavity using the Monte Carlo Radiative Transfer code by Barbara Whitney. The best-fit model image indicates that the cavity should be detectable in the F330W bandpass if the cavity has been cleared of both large and small dust grains, but we do not detect it. The lack of an observed cavity can be explained by the presence of sub-microns grains interior to the sub-mm cavity wall. We suggest one explanation for this which could be due to a planet of mass <9 Jupiter masses interior to 24 AU. A unique cylindrical structure is detected in the FUV data from the Advanced Camera for Surveys/Solar Blind Channel. It is aligned along the system semi-minor axis, but does not resemble an accretion-driven jet. The structure is limb-brightened and extends 190 +/- 35 AU above the disk midplane. The inner radius of the limb-brightening is 40 +/- 10 AU, just beyond the sub-millimeter cavity wall.

40 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables, accepted to ApJ

References in corpus (9)

• Photoevaporation of protoplanetary discs II: evolutionary models and observable properties
• Dust filtration at gap edges: Implications for the spectral energy distributions of discs with embedded planets
• Dust flow in gas disks in the presence of embedded planets
• Spatially Resolved Molecular Hydrogen Emission in the Inner 200AU Environments of Classical T Tauri Stars
• The Origins of Fluorescent H2 Emission From T Tauri~Stars
• A kinematic study of the Taurus-Auriga T association
• The HD 163296 Circumstellar Disk in Scattered Light: Evidence of Time-Variable Self-Shadowing
• Using FUV to IR Variability to Probe the Star-Disk Connection in the Transitional Disk of GM Aur
• HD 97048's Circumstellar Environment as Revealed by a HST/ACS Coronagraphic Study of Disk Candidate Stars

Cited by in corpus (7)

• Molecules with ALMA at Planet-forming Scales (MAPS) XIV: Revealing disk substructures in multi-wavelength continuum emission
• Protoplanetary Disk Masses from Radiative Transfer Modeling: A Case Study in Taurus
• A Resolved Near-Infrared Image of The Inner Cavity in The GM Aur Transitional Disk
• UV Fluorescence Traces Gas and LyA Evolution in Protoplanetary Disks
• Molecules with ALMA at Planet-forming Scales (MAPS) XIX. Spiral Arms, a Tail, and Diffuse Structures Traced by CO around the GM Aur Disk
• Molecules with ALMA at Planet-forming Scales. XX. The Massive Disk Around GM Aurigae
• Scattered light signatures of flyby-induced warps in protoplanetary discs