A hot compact dust disk around a massive young stellar object.

Nature
Stefan KrausLeonardo Testi

Abstract

Circumstellar disks are an essential ingredient of the formation of low-mass stars. It is unclear, however, whether the accretion-disk paradigm can also account for the formation of stars more massive than about 10 solar masses, in which strong radiation pressure might halt mass infall. Massive stars may form by stellar merging, although more recent theoretical investigations suggest that the radiative-pressure limit may be overcome by considering more complex, non-spherical infall geometries. Clear observational evidence, such as the detection of compact dusty disks around massive young stellar objects, is needed to identify unambiguously the formation mode of the most massive stars. Here we report near-infrared interferometric observations that spatially resolve the astronomical-unit-scale distribution of hot material around a high-mass ( approximately 20 solar masses) young stellar object. The image shows an elongated structure with a size of approximately 13 x 19 astronomical units, consistent with a disk seen at an inclination angle of approximately 45 degrees . Using geometric and detailed physical models, we found a radial temperature gradient in the disk, with a dust-free region less than 9.5 astronomical units from the...Continue Reading

References

Jan 20, 2009·Science·Mark R KrumholzAndrew J Cunningham

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Citations

Jun 22, 2017·Nature·Aaron M Geller
Apr 14, 2020·Space Science Reviews·Bo ZhaoYueh-Ning Lee
Aug 11, 2019·Nature Communications·R FedrianiM Hoare

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