Deep Spitzer spectroscopy of the `Flying Saucer' edge-on disk: Large grains beyond 50 AU

Abstract

We present deep Spitzer-IRS low-resolution (lambda/Delta lambda ~ 100) 5-35 micron spectroscopy of the edge-on disk ``the Flying Saucer'' (2MASS J16281370-2431391) in the Ophiuchus molecular cloud. The spectral energy distribution exhibits the characteristic two-peak shape predicted for a circumstellar disk viewed very close to edge-on. The short-wavelength peak is entirely due to photons scattered off the surface of the disk, while the long-wavelength peak is due to thermal emission from the disk itself. The Spitzer spectrum represents the first spectroscopic detection of scattered light out to 15 micron from a bona-fide, isolated edge-on disk around a T Tauri star. The depth and the wavelength of the mid-infrared "valley" of the SED give direct constraints on the size distribution of large grains in the disk. Using a 2D continuum radiative transfer model, we find that a significant amount of 5-10 micron-sized grains is required in the surface layers of the disk at radii of 50-300 AU. The detection of relatively large grains in the upper layers implies that vertical mixing is effective, since grain growth models predict the grains would otherwise settle deep in the disk on short time scales. Additionally, we tentatively detect the 9.66 micron S(3) line of H2 and the 11.2 micron emission feature due to PAHs.

Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters

References in corpus (2)

• Spitzer-IRS spectra of disks around T Tauri stars II. PAH emission features
• Discovery of an Optically Thick, Edge-on Disk around the Herbig Ae star PDS 144N

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• A JWST/MIRI analysis of the ice distribution and PAH emission in the protoplanetary disk HH 48 NE
• The edge-on protoplanetary disk HH 48 NE I. Modeling the geometry and stellar parameters
• Asymmetric Signatures of Warps in Edge-on Disks
• The Flying Saucer edge-on disc's Near Infrared silhouette revealed by the JWST JEDIce program