Radio continuum observations of Class I protostellar discs in Taurus: Constraining the greybody tail at centimetre wavelengths

Anna M M Scaife, Jane V. Buckle, Rachael E. Ainsworth, Matthew Davies, Thomas M.O. Franzen, Keith J B Grainge, Michael P. Hobson, Natasha Hurley-Walker, Anthony N. Lasenby, Malak Olamaie, Yvette C. Perrott, Guy Pooley, Tom P. Ray, John S. Richer, Carmen Rodríguez-Gonzálvez, Richard D.E. Saunders, Michel P. Schammel, Paul F. Scott, Timothy Shimwell, David TitteringtonElizabeth Waldram

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    We present deep 1.8cm (16GHz) radio continuum imaging of seven young stellar objects in the Taurus molecular cloud. These objects have previously been extensively studied in the submm to near-infrared range and their spectral energy distributions modelled to provide reliable physical and geometrical parameters. We use these new data to constrain the properties of the long-wavelength tail of the greybody spectrum, which is expected to be dominated by emission from large dust grains in the protostellar disc. We find spectra consistent with the opacity indices expected for such a population, with an average opacity index of [beta]= 0.26 ± 0.22 indicating grain growth within the discs. We use spectra fitted jointly to radio and submm data to separate the contributions from thermal dust and radio emission at 1.8cm and derive disc masses directly from the cm-wave dust contribution. We find that disc masses derived from these flux densities under assumptions consistent with the literature are systematically higher than those calculated from submm data, and meet the criteria for giant planet formation in a number of cases. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)3334-3343
    Number of pages10
    JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
    Volume420
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Mar 2012

    Keywords

    • ISM: clouds
    • ISM: general
    • Radiation mechanisms: general
    • Stars: formation

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