Infrared Identification of Forming Solar Systems in Other Galaxies

Sweta ShahIthaca College

Advisor: Dr. Luke Keller Physics Department

Small Magellanic CloudImage credit: NASA/ESA

Stars (AeBe?) in SMC

Spectral Energy Distribution & Disk Geometry (Malfait et al. 1998)

UV mm

What we Did Spitzer Survey of SMC

Small Magellanic CloudImage credit: NASA/ESA

Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC)

• Dwarf galaxy

• 60 kpc away (~1016 meters)

• low metallicity

Are they really HAeBe stars?

Colour Colour Diagram (de Wit et al. 2003)

Metallicity Effect in SMC

2MASS K-band Images (Spitzer Archives)

Spectral Energy Distributions (Shah and Keller)

ESHCs detected in the S3MC mid infrared survey

• Are these actually Herbig AeBe stars?

• Brightness of stars in metal poor environments should be higher (Lammers 1999, de Witt 2003)

• SMC Herbig AeBe candidates’ disks

• How different is the ESHC dust relative to the Galactic HAeBe stars?

• Can we characterize the gas in these disks?

Remaining Questions /

Issues

Submitted a Proposal for follow-up space-based observations - Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph in February 2007.

Also submitted Proposal for ground-based data – Gemini in March 2007.

On Going Work

Thanks(sshah1@ithaca.edu)