The disk around the brown dwarf KPNO TAU 3
Abstract
We present submillimeter observations of the young brown dwarfs KPNO Tau 1, KPNO Tau 3, and KPNO Tau 6 at 450 μm and 850 μm taken with the Submillimetre Common-User Bolometer Array on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. KPNO Tau 3 and KPNO Tau 6 have been previously identified as Class II objects hosting accretion disks, whereas KPNO Tau 1 has been identified as a Class III object and shows no evidence of circumsubstellar material. Our 3σ detection of cold dust around KPNO Tau 3 implies a total disk mass of (4.0 ± 1.1) × 10−4 M☉ (assuming a gas to dust ratio of 100:1). We place tight constraints on any disks around KPNO Tau 1 or KPNO Tau 6 of <2.1 × 10−4 M☉ and <2.7 × 10−4 M☉, respectively. Modeling the spectral energy distribution of KPNO Tau 3 and its disk suggests the disk properties (geometry, dust mass, and grain size distribution) are consistent with observations of other brown dwarf disks and low-mass T-Tauri stars. In particular, the disk-to-host mass ratio for KPNO Tau 3 is congruent with the scenario that at least some brown dwarfs form via the same mechanism as low-mass stars.
Citation
Broekhoven-Fiene , H , Matthews , B , Duchêne , G , Di Francesco , J , Scholz , A , Chrysostomou , A & Jayawardhana , R 2014 , ' The disk around the brown dwarf KPNO TAU 3 ' , Astrophysical Journal , vol. 789 , no. 2 , 155 . https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/789/2/155
Publication
Astrophysical Journal
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0004-637XType
Journal article
Description
H.B.F. and B.C.M. acknowledge a Discovery Grant from the Natural Science & Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada.Collections
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