The unprecedented angular resolution and sensitivity of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array make it possible to unveil disk populations in distant (>2 kpc), embedded young cluster environments. We have conducted an observation toward the central region of the massive protocluster G286.21+0.16 at 1.3 mm. With a spatial resolution of 23 mas and a sensitivity of 15
The structure of protoplanetary disks plays an essential role in planet formation. A disk that is highly inclined, or “edge-on,” is of particular interest since its geometry provides a unique opportunity to study the disk’s vertical structure and radial extent. Candidate edge-on protoplanetary disks are typically identified via their unique spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and subsequently confirmed through high-resolution imaging. However, this selection process is likely biased toward the largest, most-massive disks, and the resulting sample may not accurately represent the underlying disk population. To investigate this, we generated a grid of protoplanetary disk models using radiative transfer simulations and determined which sets of disk parameters produce edge-on systems that could be recovered by the aforementioned detection techniques—i.e., identified by their SEDs and confirmed through follow-up imaging with the Hubble Space Telescope. In doing so, we adopt a quantitative working definition of “edge-on disks” (EODs) that is observation driven and agnostic about the disk inclination or other properties. Folding in empirical disk demographics, we predict an occurrence rate of 6.2% for EODs and quantify biases toward highly inclined, massive disks. We also find that EODs are underrepresented in samples of Spitzer-studied young stellar objects, particularly for disks with host more »
- Publication Date:
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10401675
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Volume:
- 945
- Issue:
- 2
- Page Range or eLocation-ID:
- Article No. 130
- ISSN:
- 0004-637X
- Publisher:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.3847
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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