Mid-Infrared Observations of Planet Forming Material Orbiting Young

Stars

Eric LeibenspergerIthaca College

Overview

● Star and Planet Formation

● Observations and Data Reduction

● Results● Conclusions and

Future Work

Star and Planet Formation

Observations and Data Reduction● Spitzer Space Telescope Infrared

Spectrograph (IRS)

● ~ 300 of 600 stars have been observed

● Reduction with SMART (Spectroscopy Modeling Analysis and Reduction Tool)

Wavelength

Inte

nsit

y

SMART Extraction (2 dimensional to 1 dimensional)

Results

Results cont.Disk Orientation

Conclusions and Future Work● Standardized procedure to

reduce data

● Strong evidence for circumstellar disks of planet forming material

● Orientation of disk can be determined

● Discovery of young star with cleared inner disk which implies planet formation

● Future Work: Detailed study of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emission in Herbig Ae/Be (massive young) stars

Wavelength (μm)

Inte

nsit

y (J

y)

PAH Emission from a young star