Strong Near-Infrared Emission Interior to the Dust-Sublimation Radius of Young Stellar Objects MWC275 and AB Aur

TL;DR

This study uses advanced optical interferometry to detect and locate hot gas emission inside the dust-sublimation radius of young stellar objects MWC275 and AB Aur, confirming the presence of hot gas within this region.

Contribution

It provides direct observational evidence of hot gas emission inside the dust-sublimation radius of Herbig Ae stars, refining our understanding of their inner disk structure.

Findings

Detected strong NIR emission inside dust-destruction radius

Located emission between dust-destruction and co-rotation radii

Confirmed hot gas presence inside dust-sublimation radius

Abstract

Using the longest optical-interferometeric baselines currently available, we have detected strong near-infrared (NIR) emission from inside the dust-destruction radius of Herbig Ae stars MWC275 and AB Aur. Our sub-milli-arcsecond resolution observations unambiguously place the emission between the dust-destruction radius and the magnetospheric co-rotation radius. We argue that this new component corresponds to hot gas inside the dust-sublimation radius, confirming recent claims based on spectrally-resolved interferometry and dust evaporation front modeling.