Dust Processing and Grain Growth in Protoplanetary Disks in the Taurus-Auriga Star-Forming Region

TL;DR

This study analyzes mid-infrared spectra of 65 T Tauri stars in Taurus-Auriga to investigate dust composition, grain growth, and disk evolution, revealing complex crystalline silicate processing and the influence of dust settling and stellar mass.

Contribution

It provides detailed modeling of dust composition and grain sizes in protoplanetary disks, highlighting the relationship between crystalline silicates, grain growth, and disk settling.

Findings

Crystalline silicates require Mg-rich minerals and silica.

Small grains dominate in some spectra, challenging grain growth assumptions.

Crystalline silicate abundance correlates with other crystalline components.

Abstract

Mid-infrared spectra of 65 T Tauri stars (TTS) taken with the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS) on board the Spitzer Space Telescope are modeled using dust at two temperatures to probe the radial variation in dust composition in the uppermost layers of protoplanetary disks. Most spectra indicating crystalline silicates require Mg-rich minerals and silica, but a few suggest otherwise. Spectra indicating abundant enstatite at higher temperatures also require crystalline silicates at temperatures lower than those required for spectra showing high abundance of other crystalline silicates. A few spectra show 10 micron complexes of very small equivalent width. They are fit well using abundant crystalline silicates but very few large grains, inconsistent with the expectation that low peak-to-continuum ratio of the 10 micron complex always indicates grain growth. Most spectra in our sample are fit well without using the opacities of large crystalline silicate grains. If large grains grow by agglomeration of submicron grains of all dust types, the amorphous silicate components of these aggregates must typically be more abundant than the crystalline silicate components. Crystalline silicate abundances correlate positively with other such abundances, suggesting that crystalline silicates are processed directly from amorphous silicates and that neither forsterite, enstatite, nor silica are intermediate steps when producing either of the other two. Disks with more dust settling typically have greater crystalline abundances. Large-grain abundance is somewhat correlated with greater settling of disks. The lack of strong correlation is interpreted to mean that settling of large grains is sensitive to individual disk properties. Lower-mass stars have higher abundances of large grains in their inner regions.