arXiv subjects

Joel H. Kastner

Publications and source records attributed to Joel H. Kastner.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Candidate Wide-separation Companions to Nearby, Dusty Young Stars: Gaia Weighs In

We exploit the precise parallaxes and proper motions contained in Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2) to establish whether the proposed wide-separation companions to five nearby, young stars are in fact equidistant and comoving with these stars. For three of the proposed wide pairs --- TW Hya + 2M1102-34; HR 4796A + 2M1235-39; and V4046 Sgr AB + GSC 07396 --- the Gaia DR2 data confirm that the two stars lie at the same distance and are comoving (or nearly so), to within the measurement errors. We conclude that these three pairs indeed constitute wide-separation binaries with projected separations of 44.3 kau, 13.3 kau, and 12.3 kau, respectively. In contrast, the DR2 data disprove the hypothesis that T Cha + 2M1155-79 and HD 113766AB + TYC 8246-2900-1 constitute wide binaries. Future investigations of the three wide young-star pairs confirmed in this work should be aimed at establishing whether they remain bound at the present epoch and whether the presence of long-lived disks orbiting the primaries is linked to the orbital or dissolution timescales of these wide binaries.

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arXiv2018

A Subarcsecond ALMA Molecular Line Imaging Survey of the Circumbinary, Protoplanetary Disk Orbiting V4046 Sgr

We present a suite of ALMA interferometric molecular line and continuum images that elucidate, on linear size scales of $\sim$30--40 AU, the chemical structure of the nearby, evolved, protoplanetary disk orbiting the close binary system V4046 Sgr. The observations were undertaken in the 1.1--1.4 mm wavelength range (ALMA Bands 6 and 7) with antenna configurations involving maximum baselines of several hundred meters, yielding subarcsecond-resolution images in more than a dozen molecular species and isotopologues. Isotopologues of CO and HCN display centrally peaked morphologies of integrated emission line intensity, whereas the line emission from complex nitrile group molecules (HC$_3$N, CH$_3$CN), deuterated molecules (DCN, DCO$^+$), hydrocarbons (as traced by C$_2$H), and potential CO ice line tracers (N$_2$H$^+$, and H$_2$CO) appears as a sequence of sharp and diffuse rings. The dimensions and morphologies of HC$_3$N and CH$_3$CN emission are suggestive of photodesorption of organic ices from the surfaces of dust grains, while the sequence of increasing radius of peak intensity represented by DCN (smallest), DCO$^+$, N$_2$H$^+$, and H$_2$CO (largest) is qualitatively consistent with the expected decline of midplane gas temperature with increasing disk radius. Empirical modeling indicates that the sharp-edged C$_2$H emission ring lies at relatively deep disk layers, leaving open the question of the origin of C$_2$H abundance enhancements in evolved disks. This study of the "molecular anatomy" of V4046 Sgr should serve as motivation for additional subarcsecond ALMA molecular line imaging surveys of nearby, evolved protoplanetary disks aimed at addressing major uncertainties in protoplanetary disk physical and chemical structure and molecular production pathways.

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arXiv2018

Dissecting the X-ray Emission in the Young Planetary Nebula NGC 7027

We present analysis of a second observation of the young planetary nebula (PN) NGC 7027 by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. This latest 59.2 ks exposure with ACIS-S was acquired approximately 14 years after the initial 18.2 ks ACIS-S observation, and the improved photon statistics allow us to perform a detailed spatial and spectral analysis of the X-ray emission. Comparison with multiwavelength imaging of NGC 7027 reveals a strong anti-correlation between extinction across the nebula and the soft band X-ray emission. Dissecting the X-ray emission into low- and high-extinction regions results in more robust characterization of the plasma spectral properties. We determine that the X-ray emitting plasma has a temperature of $\sim3.6$ MK, is deficient in Fe, and has an X-ray luminosity of $L_{\rm X}\sim7\times10^{31}{\rm ~erg~s}^{-1}$, all of which are generally consistent with the plasma properties found in PN hot bubbles. We find no evidence of evolution in the X-ray surface brightness over the 14 year baseline between Chandra observations. Our analysis underscores the importance of accounting for nebular absorption of the X-ray emission in accurately determining plasma properties for hot bubbles within PNe.

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arXiv2017

A Catalog of GALEX Ultraviolet Emission from Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars

We have performed a comprehensive study of the UV emission detected from AGB stars by the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX). Of the 468 AGB stars in our sample, 316 were observed by GALEX. In the NUV bandpass ($λ_{\rm eff} \sim 2310$z A), 179 AGB stars were detected and 137 were not detected. Only 38 AGB stars were detected in the FUV bandpass ($λ_{\rm eff} \sim1528$ A). We find that NUV emission is correlated with optical to near infrared emission leading to higher detection fractions among the brightest, hence closest, AGB stars. Comparing the AGB time-variable visible phased light curves to corresponding GALEX NUV phased light curves we find evidence that for some AGB stars the NUV emission varies in phase with the visible light curves. We also find evidence that the NUV emission, and possibly, the FUV emission are anti-correlated with the circumstellar envelope density. These results suggest that the origin of the GALEX-detected UV emission is an inherent characteristic of the AGB stars that can most likely be traced to a combination of photospheric and chromospheric emission. In most cases, UV detections of AGB stars are not likely to be indicative of the presence of binary companions.

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arXiv2017

Nearby Young, Active, Late-type Dwarfs in Gaia's First Data Release

The Galex Nearby Young Star Survey (GALNYSS) has yielded a sample of $\sim$2000 UV-selected objects that are candidate nearby ($D \stackrel{<}{\sim}$150 pc), young (age $\sim$10--100 Myr), late-type stars. Here, we evaluate the distances and ages of the subsample of (19) GALNYSS stars with Gaia Data Release 1 (DR1) parallax distances $D \le 120$ pc. The overall youth of these 19 mid-K to early-M stars is readily apparent from their positions relative to the loci of main sequence stars and giants in Gaia-based color-magnitude and color-color diagrams constructed for all Galex- and WISE-detected stars with parallax measurements included in DR1. The isochronal ages of all 19 stars lie in the range $\sim$10--100 Myr. Comparison with Li-based age estimates indicates a handful of these stars may be young main-sequence binaries rather than pre-main sequence stars. Nine of the 19 objects have not previously been considered as nearby, young stars, and all but one of these are found at declinations north of $+$30$^\circ$. The Gaia DR1 results presented here indicate that the GALNYSS sample includes several hundred nearby, young stars, a substantial fraction of which have not been previously recognized as having ages $\stackrel{<}{\sim}$100 Myr.

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arXiv2017

Dippers and Dusty Disks Edges: A Unified Model

We revisit the nature of large dips in flux from extinction by dusty circumstellar material that is observed by Kepler for many young stars in the Upper Sco and $ρ$ Oph star formation regions. These young, low-mass "dipper" stars are known to have low accretion rates and primarily host moderately evolved dusty circumstellar disks. Young low mass stars often exhibit rotating star spots that cause quasi-periodic photometric variations. We found no evidence for periods associated with the dips that are different from the star spot rotation period in spectrograms constructed from the light curves. The material causing the dips in most of these light curves must be approximately corotating with the star. We find that disk temperatures computed at the disk corotation radius are cool enough that dust should not sublime. Crude estimates for stellar magnetic field strengths and accretion rates are consistent with magnetospheric truncation near the corotation radius. Magnetospheric truncation models can explain why the dips are associated with material near corotation and how dusty material is lifted out of the midplane to obscure the star which would account for the large fraction of young low mass stars that are dippers. We propose that variations in disk orientation angle, stellar magnetic field dipole tilt axis, and disk accretion rate are underlying parameters accounting for differences in the dipper light curves.

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arXiv2017

Chasing Shadows: Rotation of the Azimuthal Asymmetry in the TW Hya Disk

We have obtained new images of the protoplanetary disk orbiting TW Hya in visible, total intensity light with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), using the newly commissioned BAR5 occulter. These HST/STIS observations achieved an inner working angle $\sim$0.2\arcsec, or 11.7~AU, probing the system at angular radii coincident with recent images of the disk obtained by ALMA and in polarized intensity near-infrared light. By comparing our new STIS images to those taken with STIS in 2000 and with NICMOS in 1998, 2004, and 2005, we demonstrate that TW Hya's azimuthal surface brightness asymmetry moves coherently in position angle. Between 50~AU and 141~AU we measure a constant angular velocity in the azimuthal brightness asymmetry of 22.7$^\circ$~yr$^{-1}$ in a counter-clockwise direction, equivalent to a period of 15.9~yr assuming circular motion. Both the (short) inferred period and lack of radial dependence of the moving shadow pattern are inconsistent with Keplerian rotation at these disk radii. We hypothesize that the asymmetry arises from the fact that the disk interior to 1~AU is inclined and precessing due to a planetary companion, thus partially shadowing the outer disk. Further monitoring of this and other shadows on protoplanetary disks potentially opens a new avenue for indirectly observing the sites of planet formation.

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arXiv2016

Evidence for Variable, Correlated X-ray and Optical/IR Extinction toward the Nearby, Pre-main Sequence Binary TWA 30

We present contemporaneous XMM-Newton X-ray and ground-based optical/near-IR spectroscopic observations of the nearby ($D \approx 42$ pc), low-mass (mid-M) binary system TWA 30A and 30B. The components of this wide (separation $\sim$3400 AU) binary are notable for their nearly edge-on disk viewing geometries, high levels of variability, and evidence for collimated stellar outflows. We obtained XMM-Newton X-ray observations of TWA 30A and 30B in 2011 June and July, accompanied (respectively) by IRTF SpeX (near-IR) and VLT XSHOOTER (visible/near-IR) spectroscopy obtained within $\sim$20 hours of the X-ray observations. TWA 30A was detected in both XMM-Newton observations at relatively faint intrinsic X-ray luminosities ($L_{X}$$\sim$$8\times10^{27}$ $erg$ $s^{-1}$) compared to stars of similar mass and age . The intrinsic (0.15-2.0 keV) X-ray luminosities measured in 2011 had decreased by a factor 20-100 relative to a 1990 (ROSAT) X-ray detection. TWA 30B was not detected, and we infer an upper limit of ($L_{X}$ $\lesssim$ 3.0 $\times$ $10^{27}$ erg s$^{-1}$). We measured a large change in visual extinction toward TWA 30A (from $A_V \approx 14.9$ to $A_V \approx 4.7$) between the two 2011 observing epochs, and we find evidence for a corresponding significant decrease in X-ray absorbing column ($N_H$). The apparent correlated change in $A_V$ and $N_H$ is suggestive of variable obscuration of the stellar photosphere by disk material composed of both gas and dust. However, in both observations, the inferred $N_{H}$ to $A_{V}$ ratio is lower than that typical of the ISM, suggesting that the disk is either depleted of gas or is deficient in metals in the gas phase.

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arXiv2016

M Stars in the TW Hya Association: Stellar X-rays and Disk Dissipation

To investigate the potential connection between the intense X-ray emission from young, low-mass stars and the lifetimes of their circumstellar, planet-forming disks, we have compiled the X-ray luminosities ($L_X$) of M stars in the $\sim$8 Myr-old TW Hya Association (TWA) for which X-ray data are presently available. Our investigation includes analysis of archival Chandra data for the TWA binary systems TWA 8, 9, and 13. Although our study suffers from poor statistics for stars later than M3, we find a trend of decreasing $L_X/L_{bol}$ with decreasing $T_{eff}$ for TWA M stars wherein the earliest-type (M0--M2) stars cluster near $\log{(L_X/L_{bol})} \approx -3.0$ and then $\log{(L_X/L_{bol})}$ decreases, and its distribution broadens, for types M4 and later. The fraction of TWA stars that display evidence for residual primordial disk material also sharply increases in this same (mid-M) spectral type regime. This apparent anticorrelation between the relative X-ray luminosities of low-mass TWA stars and the longevities of their circumstellar disks suggests that primordial disks orbiting early-type M stars in the TWA have dispersed rapidly as a consequence of their persistent large X-ray fluxes. Conversely, the disks orbiting the very lowest-mass pre-MS stars and pre-MS brown dwarfs in the Association may have survived because their X-ray luminosities and, hence, disk photoevaporation rates are very low to begin with, and then further decline relatively early in their pre-MS evolution.

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arXiv2015

Peering into the Giant Planet Forming Region of the TW Hydrae Disk with the Gemini Planet Imager

We present Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) adaptive optics near-infrared images of the giant planet-forming regions of the protoplanetary disk orbiting the nearby (D = 54 pc), pre-main sequence (classical T Tauri) star TW Hydrae. The GPI images, which were obtained in coronagraphic/polarimetric mode, exploit starlight scattered off small dust grains to elucidate the surface density structure of the TW Hya disk from 80 AU to within 10 AU of the star at 1.5 AU resolution. The GPI polarized intensity images unambiguously confirm the presence of a gap in the radial surface brightness distribution of the inner disk. The gap is centered near 23 AU, with a width of 5 AU and a depth of 50%. In the context of recent simulations of giant planet formation in gaseous, dusty disks orbiting pre-main sequence stars, these results indicate that at least one young planet with a mass 0.2 M_J could be present in the TW Hya disk at an orbital semi-major axis similar to that of Uranus. If this (proto)planet is actively accreting gas from the disk, it may be readily detectable by GPI or a similarly sensitive, high-resolution infrared imaging system.

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arXiv2015

Magnetic Activity of Pre-main Sequence Stars near the Stellar-Substellar Boundary

X-ray observations of pre-main sequence (pre-MS) stars of M-type probe coronal emission and offer a means to investigate magnetic activity at the stellar-substellar boundary. Recent observations of main sequence (MS) stars at this boundary display a decrease in fractional X-ray luminosity ($L_{X}$/$L_{bol}$) by almost two orders of magnitude for spectral types M7 and later. We investigate magnetic activity and search for a decrease in X-ray emission in the pre-MS progenitors of these MS stars. We present XMM-Newton X-ray observations and preliminary results for ~10 nearby (30-70 pc), very low mass pre-MS stars in the relatively unexplored age range of 10-30 Myr. We compare the fractional X-ray luminosities of these 10-30 Myr old stars to younger (1-3 Myr) pre-MS brown dwarfs and find no dependence on spectral type or age suggesting that X-ray activity declines at an age later than ~30 Myr in these very low-mass stars.

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arXiv2015

Constraining X-ray-Induced Photoevaporation of Protoplanetary Disks Orbiting Low-Mass Stars

Low-mass, pre-main sequence stars possess intense high-energy radiation fields as a result of their strong stellar magnetic activity. This stellar UV and X-ray radiation may have a profound impact on the lifetimes of protoplanetary disks. We aim to constrain the X-ray-induced photoevaporation rates of protoplanetary disks orbiting low-mass stars by analyzing serendipitous XMM-Newton and Chandra X-ray observations of candidate nearby (D $<$ 100 pc), young (age $<$ 100 Myr) M stars identified in the GALEX Nearby Young-Star Survey (GALNYSS).

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arXiv2015

A Brief History of the Study of Nearby Young Moving Groups and Their Members

Beginning with the enigmatic (and now emblematic) TW Hya, the scutiny of individual stars and star-disk systems has both motivated and benefitted from the identification of nearby young moving groups (NYMGs). I briefly outline the emergence of this relatively new subfield of astronomy over the past two decades, and offer a few examples illustrating how the study of NYMGs and their members enables unique investigations of pre-main sequence stellar evolution, evolved protoplanetary disks, and young exoplanets.

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arXiv2015

An ALMA Survey for Disks Orbiting Low-Mass Stars in the TW Hya Association

We have carried out an ALMA survey of 15 confirmed or candidate low-mass (<0.2M$_\odot$) members of the TW Hya Association (TWA) with the goal of detecting molecular gas in the form of CO emission, as well as providing constraints on continuum emission due to cold dust. Our targets have spectral types of M4-L0 and hence represent the extreme low end of the TWA's mass function. Our ALMA survey has yielded detections of 1.3mm continuum emission around 4 systems (TWA 30B, 32, 33, & 34), suggesting the presence of cold dust grains. All continuum sources are unresolved. TWA 34 further shows 12CO(2-1) emission whose velocity structure is indicative of Keplerian rotation. Among the sample of known ~7-10 Myr-old star/disk systems, TWA 34, which lies just ~50 pc from Earth, is the lowest mass star thus far identified as harboring cold molecular gas in an orbiting disk.

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arXiv2015

A Combined Spitzer and Herschel Infrared Study of Gas and Dust in the Circumbinary Disk Orbiting V4046 Sgr

We present results from a spectroscopic Spitzer and Herschel mid-to-far-infrared study of the circumbinary disk orbiting the evolved (age ~12-23 Myr) close binary T Tauri system V4046 Sgr. Spitzer IRS spectra show emission lines of [Ne II], H_2 S(1), CO_2 and HCN, while Herschel PACS and SPIRE spectra reveal emission from [O I], OH, and tentative detections of H_2O and high-J transitions of CO. We measure [Ne III]/[Ne II] < 0.13, which is comparable to other X-ray/EUV luminous T Tauri stars that lack jets. We use the H_2 S(1) line luminosity to estimate the gas mass in the relatively warm surface layers of the inner disk. The presence of [O I] emission suggests that CO, H_2O, and/or OH is being photodissociated, and the lack of [C I] emission suggests any excess C may be locked up in HCN, CN and other organic molecules. Modeling of silicate dust grain emission features in the mid-infrared indicates that the inner disk is composed mainly of large (r~5 um) amorphous pyroxene and olivine grains (~86% by mass) with a relatively large proportion of crystalline silicates. These results are consistent with other lines of evidence indicating that planet building is ongoing in regions of the disk within ~30 AU of the central, close binary.

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arXiv2015

A Ring of C2H in the Molecular Disk Orbiting TW Hya

We have used the Submillimeter Array to image, at ~1.5" resolution, C2H (3-2) emission from the circumstellar disk orbiting the nearby (D = 54 pc), ~8 Myr-old, ~0.8 Msun classical T Tauri star TW Hya. The SMA imaging reveals that the C2H emission exhibits a ring-like morphology. Based on a model in which the C2H column density follows a truncated radial power-law distribution, we find that the inner edge of the ring lies at ~45 AU, and that the ring extends to at least ~120 AU. Comparison with previous (single-dish) observations of C2H (4-3) emission indicates that the C2H molecules are subthermally excited and, hence, that the emission arises from the relatively warm, tenuous upper atmosphere of the disk. We propose that the C2H emission most likely traces particularly efficient photo-destruction of small grains and/or photodesorption and photodissociation of hydrocarbons derived from grain ice mantles in the surface layers of the outer disk. The presence of a C2H ring in the TW Hya disk hence likely serves as a marker of dust grain processing and radial and vertical grain size segregation within the disk.

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arXiv2015

An Unbiased 1.3 mm Emission Line Survey of the Protoplanetary Disk Orbiting LkCa 15

The outer (>30 AU) regions of the dusty circumstellar disk orbiting the ~2-5 Myr-old, actively accreting solar analog LkCa 15 are known to be chemically rich, and the inner disk may host a young protoplanet within its central cavity. To obtain a complete census of the brightest molecular line emission emanating from the LkCa 15 disk over the 210-270 GHz (1.4 - 1.1 mm) range, we have conducted an unbiased radio spectroscopic survey with the Institute de Radioastronomie Millimetrique (IRAM) 30 meter telescope. The survey demonstrates that, in this spectral region, the most readily detectable lines are those of CO and its isotopologues 13CO and C18O, as well as HCO+, HCN, CN, C2H, CS, and H2CO. All of these species had been previously detected in the LkCa 15 disk; however, the present survey includes the first complete coverage of the CN (2-1) and C2H (3-2) hyperfine complexes. Modeling of these emission complexes indicates that the CN and C2H either reside in the coldest regions of the disk or are subthermally excited, and that their abundances are enhanced relative to molecular clouds and young stellar object environments. These results highlight the value of unbiased single-dish line surveys in guiding future high resolution interferometric imaging of disks.

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arXiv2015

Scattered Light from Dust in the Cavity of the V4046 Sgr Transition Disk

We report the presence of scattered light from dust grains located in the giant planet formation region of the circumbinary disk orbiting the ~20-Myr-old close (~0.045 AU separation) binary system V4046 Sgr AB based on observations with the new Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) instrument. These GPI images probe to within ~7 AU of the central binary with linear spatial resolution of ~3 AU, and are thereby capable of revealing dust disk structure within a region corresponding to the giant planets in our solar system. The GPI imaging reveals a relatively narrow (FWHM ~10 AU) ring of polarized near-infrared flux whose brightness peaks at ~14 AU. This ~14 AU radius ring is surrounded by a fainter outer halo of scattered light extending to ~45 AU, which coincides with previously detected mm-wave thermal dust emission. The presence of small grains that efficiently scatter starlight well inside the mm-wavelength disk cavity supports current models of planet formation that suggest planet-disk interactions can generate pressure traps that impose strong radial variations in the particle size distribution throughout the disk.

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