A PROTOPLANETARY SYSTEM CONSISTING OF AT LEAST TWO GIANT PLANETS HAS BEEN DETECTED ORBITING THE YOUNG NEARBY HERBIG BE STAR HD 100546. THE INNER PROTOPLANET ORB...

A PROTOPLANETARY SYSTEM CONSISTING OF AT LEAST TWO GIANT PLANETS HAS BEEN DETECTED ORBITING THE YOUNG NEARBY HERBIG BE STAR HD 100546. THE INNER PROTOPLANET ORBITS INSIDE A GAP WITHIN ~14 AU OF THE STAR AND IS EXPOSED TO STRONG STELLAR UV AND X-RAY RADIATION. THE DETECTION OF VERY WARM DISK GAS PROVIDES EVIDENCE THAT STELLAR HEATING IS AFFECTING PHYSICAL CONDITIONS IN THE PLANET-FORMING ENVIRONMENT. WE OBTAINED A DEEP 74 KSEC X-RAY OBSERVATION OF HD 100546 IN 2015 WITH XMM-NEWTON YIELDING AN EXCELLENT-QUALITY SPECTRUM. WE PROPOSE HERE TO ANALYZE THE XMM-NEWTON DATA TO DETERMINE THE X-RAY IONIZATION AND HEATING RATES IN THE DISK. X-RAY IONIZATION AND HEATING AFFECT THE THERMAL AND CHEMICAL STRUCTURE OF THE DISK AND ARE KEY PARAMETERS FOR CONSTRUCTING REALISTIC PLANET FORMATION MODELS. WE ARE REQUESTING ADAP FUNDING TO SUPPORT THE ANALYSIS AND PUBLICATION OF THIS VALUABLE XMM-NEWTON DATA SET, WHICH IS NOW IN THE PUBLIC ARCHIVE.
Solicitation ID/Procurement Identifier: 80NSSC18K0414
Ultimate Completion Date: Thu Sep 19 17:00:00 GMT