EPoS Contribution
EPoS Contribution
Constraints on Embedded Disk Structures and Masses as Seen by CARMA and ALMA

Patrick Sheehan
OU, Norman, US
Class 0 and I protostars are thought to represent early stages in the lifetime of protostellar disks, when they are still embedded in their natal envelope. As such, they provide an opportunity to study the initial conditions of protostellar disks, before any significant disk evolution or planet formation has occurred. We have conducted a survey of Class I protostars, initially with CARMA but now continuing with ALMA, to study the structure of their disks and measure their masses. We fit detailed radiative transfer models to our sample and find that Class I disks have similar structure to Class II disks, including several Class I disks with gaps, cavities, and other interesting features. Our measurements show that Class I disks are, on average, more massive than the older Class II disks. As such, Class I disks may be a better representation of the initial masses present in protostellar disks. These samples are, however, still small, so we have begun an effort to model all 330 Class 0 and I protostars from the Herschel Orion Protostar Survey that were observed with ALMA as part of the VANDAM Survey. When completed, this study will produce a comprehensive picture of the youngest protostellar disks. We will finish by presenting early results from this effort.
Caption: An example of our detailed radiative transfer modeling results. We show the best fit model, including both a disk and an envelope, for LFAM 26 compared with the 3mm azimuthally averaged visibilities (left), 3mm image (center), and broadband SED (right). By fitting these models to a large number of protostars we are able to build a comprehensive picture of young protostellar disks.
Collaborators:
J. Eisner, UA, US
J. Tobin, OU, US
Key publication

Suggested Session: Protostellar disks