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| EPoS Contribution |
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Disc survival in a starburst environment -
L-band excess sources in the Arches cluster
Andrea Stolte I. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, Köln, Germany | |
| We have detected a sample of 23 L-band excess sources in the 2.5 Myr old Arches cluster near the center of the Galaxy. The CO-bandhead emission in the near-infrared spectra of these sources indicate that they are optically thick, gaseous discs. This finding in a starburst cluster is unexpected for two reasons. First of all, the immediate vicinity of more than 120 O-stars causes a large amount of EUV radiation, which should destroy discs on very short timescales. Secondly, observations of discs in nearby star-forming regions suggest that discs around B-type stars are depleted within 1 to 3 Myr. A short disc depletion timescale of massive, optically thick, gaseous discs is also predicted by simulations of disc evaporation and grain growth. I will present the properties of the discs in the Arches cluster, and discuss the meaning of these sources for our notion of disc survival in a massive cluster environment. | |
| Collaborators: M. Morris, UCLA, USA A.M. Ghez, UCLA, USA T. Do, UCLA, USA J. Lu, Caltech, USA K. Matthews, Caltech, USA |
Suggested Session:
Early Phases of Disks, Massive Stars |