MODELING MID-INFRARED VARIABILITY OF CIRCUMSTELLAR DISKS WITH NON-AXISYMMETRIC STRUCTURE

Journal Article · Fri Aug 20 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/719/2/1733· OSTI ID:21457056

Flaherty, K M; Muzerolle, J ^[1]

---

1. Steward Observatory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 (United States)

Recent mid-infrared observations of young stellar objects have found significant variations possibly indicative of changes in the structure of the circumstellar disk. Previous models of this variability have been restricted to axisymmetric perturbations in the disk. We consider simple models of a non-axisymmetric variation in the inner disk, such as a warp or a spiral wave. We find that the precession of these non-axisymmetric structures produces negligible flux variations but a change in the height of these structures can lead to significant changes in the mid-infrared flux. Applying these models to observations of the young stellar object LRLL 31 suggests that the observed variability could be explained by a warped inner disk with variable scale height. This suggests that some of the variability observed in young stellar objects could be explained by non-axisymmetric disturbances in the inner disk and this variability would be easily observable in future studies.

• OSTI ID: 21457056
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 719, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/719/2/1733; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

97 MATHEMATICAL METHODS AND COMPUTING
79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
AXIAL SYMMETRY
MAIN SEQUENCE STARS
PERTURBATION THEORY
SCALE HEIGHT
SIMULATION
DIMENSIONS
HEIGHT
STARS
SYMMETRY