4.7 Article

Long-wavelength excesses of FU-Orionis objects: Flared outer disks or infalling envelopes?

Journal

ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL
Volume 684, Issue 2, Pages 1281-1290

Publisher

IOP PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.1086/590241

Keywords

accretion, accretion disks; circumstellar matter; stars : formation; stars : pre-main-sequence; stars : variables : other

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The mid- to far-infrared emission of the outbursting FU Orionis objects has been attributed either to a flared outer disk or to an infalling envelope. We revisit this issue using detailed radiative transfer calculations to model the recent, high signal-to-noise ratio data from the IRS instrument on the Spitzer Space Telescope. In the case of FU Ori, we find that a physically plausible flared disk irradiated by the central accretion disk matches the observations. Building on our previous work, our accretion disk model with outer disk irradiation by the inner disk reproduces the spectral energy distribution between similar to 4000 angstrom and similar to 40 mu m. Our model is consistent with near-infrared interferometry, but there are some inconsistencies with mid- infrared interferometric results. Including the outer disk allows us to refine our estimate of the outer radius of the outbursting, high mass accretion rate disk in FU Ori as similar to 0.5 AU, which is a crucial parameter in assessing theories of the FU Orionis phenomenon. We are able to place an upper limit on the mass infall rate of any remnant envelope infall rate to similar to 7 x 10(-7) M-circle dot yr(-1) assuming a centrifugal radius of 200 AU. The FU or BBW76 is also well modeled by a 0.6 AU inner disk and a flared outer disk. However, V1515 Cyg requires an envelope with an outflow cavity to adequately reproduce the IRS spectrum. In contrast with the suggestion by Green et al., we do not require a flattened envelope to match the observations; the inferred cavity shape is qualitatively consistent with typical protostellar envelopes. This variety of dusty structures suggests that the FU Orionis phase can be present at either early or late stages of protostellar evolution.

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