PI: Colette Salyk, NOAO, email@example.com
Address: 950 N Cherry Ave, Tucson, AZ 85719
CoI: Geoffrey A. Blake, California Institute of Technology
CoI: Klaus M. Pontoppidan, Space Telescope Science Institute
CoI: Ke Zhang, California Institute of Technology
Title: CO variability in HAeBe disks: A search for planet-disk interactions
Abstract: We propose to search for signatures of planets embedded in protoplanetary disks by characterizing the variability of infrared CO emission lines. This proposal directly bears on the ultimate question in the study of planet formation - how do protoplanetary disk conditions relate to the planetary systems that result? The quest to answer this question would be greatly aided by the detection and characterization of protoplanets and the disk environment in which they form, as well as by the study of disk-planet interactions and resultant migration. However, the detection of protoplanets by traditional planet-hunting methods is hampered by the distance to star-forming regions and the variability of young stars. In this study, we propose to search for CO line variability that is expected to result from the interaction between planets and their disks. CO line variability as well as disk asymmetries on sub-AU scales have been detected in disks around low-mass T Tauri stars. Here, we propose to extend the study of CO line variability to disks around more massive Herbig Ae stars.
National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 950 North Cherry Avenue, P.O. Box 26732, Tucson, Arizona 85726, Phone: (520) 318-8000, Fax: (520) 318-8360