Protoplanetary and debris disks in the $\eta$ Chamaeleontis Association: A sub-millimeter survey obtained with APEX/LABOCA

TL;DR

This study provides a comprehensive sub-millimeter survey of protoplanetary and debris disks in the $ta$ Chamaeleontis association, revealing disk properties, ages, and evolution within 7-9 million years, using APEX/LABOCA data and modeling.

Contribution

First complete sub-millimeter survey of both disk types in a young association, combining observations with modeling to analyze disk properties and evolution.

Findings

Protoplanetary disks have small inner holes (~0.01-0.03 AU).

Debris disks show ring-like emission between 20 and 650 AU.

Disk mass is generally insufficient for sustained accretion, indicating rapid evolution.

Abstract

Nearby associations are ideal regions to study coeval samples of protoplanetary and debris disks down to late M-type stars. Those aged 5-10,Myrs, where most of the disk should have already dissipated forming planets, are of particular interest. We present the first complete study of both protoplanetary and debris disks in a young region, using the $\eta$ Chamaeleontis association as a test bench to study the cold disk content. We obtained sub-millimeter data for the entire core population down to late M-type stars, plus a few halo members. We performed a continuum sub-millimeter survey with APEX/LABOCA of all the core populations of $\eta$ Cha association. Disk properties have been derived by modeling protoplanetary and debris disks using RADMC 2D and DMS, respectively. We find that protoplanetary disks in $\eta$ Cha typically have holes with radii of the order of 0.01 to 0.03 AU, while ring-like emission from the debris disks is located between 20 au and 650 au from the central star. The parallaxes and Gaia eDR3 photometry, in combination with the PARSEC and COLIBRI isochrones, enable us to confirm an age of $\eta$ Cha between 7 and 9 Myrs. In general, the disk mass seems insufficient to support accretion over a long time, even for the lowest mass accretors, a clear difference compared with other regions and also a sign that the mass budget is further underestimated. We do not find a correlation between the stellar masses, accretion rates, and disk masses, although this could be due to sample issues. We confirm that the presence of inner holes is not enough to stop accretion unless accompanied by dramatic changes to the total disk mass content. Comparing $\eta$ Cha with other regions at different ages, we find that the physical processes responsible for debris disks (e.g., dust growth, dust trapping) efficiently act in less than 5 Myrs.