Brittain, Sean

Contact Email: trettig@nd.edu
Institute: University of Notre Dame
First Coauthor: Terrence W. Rettig
Institute: University of Notre Dame
Presenting Thesis: Yes
Subject Area: Stellar Atmospheres, Circumstellar Material
Waveband: Infrared
Technique: Spectroscopy
Presentation: Poster Display
Title: A Study of Volatile Molecules in the Inner Preplanetary Disk around Young Stellar Objects
Abstract: Understanding the physical characteristics of the gas and dust around pre-main sequence Young Stellar Objects (YSO’s) can provide insight into the realm of disk and planet formation. YSO disks have various degrees of disk clearing and chemical processing that when quantified, will help constrain models of the evolutionary processes leading from interstellar ices to circumstellar material to icy planetesimals to planets. Of particular interest for this study is the circumstellar material from <50au, where preplanetary chemistry and accretion similar to our own Solar System is likely active. This proposed research involves an ongoing systematic high resolution infrared spectroscopic search for organic volatiles in the inner pre-planetary disks of X-ray bright T Tauri and HAeBe stars to study the molecular chemical evolution and time scales of the gas disks. The gas phase material that is expected to be present in the inner disk regions surrounding pre-main sequence stars can trace the chemical and dynamical history of comet and planet formation necessary to understand the earliest stages of our own solar system. Importantly, we present new discoveries showing the molecules H3+, CO, H2O, and CH4 can provide important constraints on the chemical evolution, physical properties and time scales of these evolving disks. We discuss the implications of these results for planet formation. [Co-authors: N. Dello-Russo, M. DiSanti, M. Mumma, (Goddard Space Flight Center) and Karen Magee-Sauer (Rowan University)]