X-RAY IRRADIATION OF THE LkCa 15 PROTOPLANETARY DISK

LkCa 15 in the Taurus star-forming region has recently gained attention as the first accreting T Tauri star likely to host a young protoplanet. High spatial resolution infrared observations have detected the suspected protoplanet within a dust-depleted inner gap of the LkCa 15 transition disk at a d...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2013-03, Vol.765 (1), p.1-7
Main Authors: Skinner, Stephen L, Gudel, Manuel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ACCRETION DISKS
ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
BENCHMARKS
COSMIC DUST
DETECTION
Disks
Estimates
HARD COMPONENT
Heating
HEATING RATE
IONIZATION
IRRADIATION
KEV RANGE
PHOTON EMISSION
Planet formation
PLANETS
PLASMA
PROTOPLANETS
SPATIAL RESOLUTION
STAR ACCRETION
T TAURI STARS
X RADIATION
X-rays
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Summary:LkCa 15 in the Taurus star-forming region has recently gained attention as the first accreting T Tauri star likely to host a young protoplanet. High spatial resolution infrared observations have detected the suspected protoplanet within a dust-depleted inner gap of the LkCa 15 transition disk at a distance of ~ 15 AU from the star. If this object's status as a protoplanet is confirmed, then LkCa 15 will serve as a unique laboratory for constraining physical conditions within a planet-forming disk. Previous models of the LkCa 15 disk have accounted for disk heating by the stellar photosphere but have ignored the potential importance of X-ray ionization and heating. We report here the detection of LkCa 15 as a bright X-ray source with Chandra. The X-ray emission is characterized by a cool, heavily absorbed plasma component at kT sub(cool) [approximate] 0.3 keV and a harder component at kT sub(hot) [approximate] 5 keV. We use the observed X-ray properties to provide initial estimates of the X-ray ionization and heating rates within the tenuous inner disk. These estimates and the observed X-ray properties of LkCa 15 can be used as a starting point for developing more realistic disk models of this benchmark system.
ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.1088/0004-637X/765/1/3