The structure of disks around Herbig Ae/Be stars as traced by CO ro-vibrational emission

TL;DR

This study investigates CO ro-vibrational emission in Herbig Ae/Be star disks to understand the gas distribution and physical conditions, revealing a correlation between disk geometry and CO excitation properties.

Contribution

It provides new insights into how disk geometry influences CO emission characteristics and spatial distribution in intermediate-mass pre-main-sequence stars.

Findings

Flaring disks exhibit highly excited CO emission up to v$_u$=5.

Self-shadowed disks show less excited CO emission.

CO inner radius is approximately 10 au for flaring disks and ≤1 au for self-shadowed disks.

Abstract

We study the emission and absorption of CO ro-vibrational lines in the spectra of intermediate mass pre-main-sequence stars with the aim to determine both the spatial distribution of the CO gas and its physical properties. We also aim to correlate CO emission properties with disk geometry. Using high-resolution spectra containing fundamental and first overtone CO ro-vibrational emission, observed with CRIRES on the VLT, we probe the physical properties of the circumstellar gas by studying its kinematics and excitation conditions. We detect and spectrally resolve CO fundamental ro-vibrational emission in 12 of the 13 stars observed, and in two cases in absorption. Keeping in mind that we studied a limited sample, we find that the physical properties and spatial distribution of the CO gas correlate with disk geometry. Flaring disks show highly excited CO fundamental emission up to v$_u$ = 5, while self-shadowed disks show CO emission that is not as highly excited. Rotational temperatures range between ~250-2000 K. The $^{13}$CO rotational temperatures are lower than those of $^{12}$CO. The vibrational temperatures in self-shadowed disks are similar to or slightly below the rotational temperatures, suggesting that thermal excitation or IR pumping is important in these lines. In flaring disks the vibrational temperatures reach as high as 6000 K, suggesting fluorescent pumping. Using a simple kinematic model we show that the CO inner radius of the emitting region is $\approx$10 au for flaring disks and $\leq$ 1 au for self-shadowed disks. (abstract truncated due to 1920 character limit for arXiv)