We discuss the spectral energy distribution of three very low mass objects in Chamaeleon I for which ground-based spectroscopy and photometry as well as ISO measurements in the mid-infrared are available (Comeròn et al. \cite{CNK00}; Persi et al. \cite{Pea00}). One of these stars (\1) is a bona-fide brown dwarf, with mass 0.04-0.05 M_sun. We show that the observed emission is very well described by models of circumstellar disks identical to those associated to T Tauri stars, scaled down to keep the ratio of the disk-to-star mass constant and to the appropriate stellar parameters. This result provides a first indication that the formation mechanism of T Tauri stars (via core contraction and formation of an accretion disk) extends to objects in the brown dwarf mass range.
Exploring brown dwarf disks
2001
Abstract
We discuss the spectral energy distribution of three very low mass objects in Chamaeleon I for which ground-based spectroscopy and photometry as well as ISO measurements in the mid-infrared are available (Comeròn et al. \cite{CNK00}; Persi et al. \cite{Pea00}). One of these stars (\1) is a bona-fide brown dwarf, with mass 0.04-0.05 M_sun. We show that the observed emission is very well described by models of circumstellar disks identical to those associated to T Tauri stars, scaled down to keep the ratio of the disk-to-star mass constant and to the appropriate stellar parameters. This result provides a first indication that the formation mechanism of T Tauri stars (via core contraction and formation of an accretion disk) extends to objects in the brown dwarf mass range.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
