2005/02/12 by J. D. Monnier, John D. Monnier, R. Millan‐Gabet +57 · 5 citations
Chemistry · Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Molecular Spectroscopy and Structure #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/429266
published as Astrophys.J. 624 (2005) 832-840 · Accepted by Astrophysical Journal; 24 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables
arxiv created 2005/02/12 · openalex publication_date 2005/05/06 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
We report the results of a sensitive K -band survey of Herbig Ae/Be disk sizes using the 85 m baseline Keck Interferometer. Targets were chosen to span the maximum range of stellar properties to probe the disk size dependence on luminosity and effective temperature. For most targets, the measured near-infrared sizes (ranging from 0.2 to 4 AU) support a simple disk model possessing a central optically thin (dust-free) cavity, ringed by hot dust emitting at the expected sublimation temperatures ( T s ~1000-1500 K). Furthermore, we find a tight correlation of disk size with source luminosity R ∝ L 1/2 for Ae and late Be systems (valid over more than two decades in luminosity), confirming earlier suggestions based on lower quality data. Interestingly, the inferred dust-free inner cavities of the highest luminosity sources (Herbig B0-B3 stars) are undersized compared to predictions of the "optically thin cavity" model, likely because of optically thick gas within the inner AU.