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Title: The gas-rich circumbinary disk of HR 4049. II. A detailed study of the near-infrared spectrum

Journal Article · · Astrophysical Journal

HR 4049 is a peculiar evolved binary surrounded by a circumbinary disk. Mid-infrared observations show that the disk is rich in molecular gas and radially extended. To study the properties of this disk, we re-analyzed a set of near-infrared observations at high spectral resolution obtained with Gemini-Phoenix. These data cover absorption lines originating from the first overtone of CO and from H{sub 2}O in the 2.3 μm region as well as more complex emission-absorption profiles from H{sub 2}O and the fundamental mode of CO near 4.6 μm. By using an excitation diagram and from modeling the spectrum, we find that most of the CO overtone and H{sub 2}O absorption originates from hot gas (T {sub ex} ≈ 1000 K) with high column densities, consistent with the mid-infrared data. The strong emission in the wavelength range of the CO fundamental furthermore suggests that there is a significant quantity of gas in the inner cavity of the disk. In addition, there is a much colder component in the line of sight to the disk. A detailed analysis of the overtone line profiles reveals variations in the line widths that are consistent with a radially extended disk in Keplerian rotation with hotter gas closer to the central star. We estimate the mass of the primary to be ∼0.34 M {sub ☉} and discuss the implications for its evolutionary status.

OSTI ID:
22370414
Journal Information:
Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 794, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English