Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-1-2004
Publication Title
The Astrophysical Journal
Volume
616
Issue
2
Publisher
The American Astronomical Society
Abstract
We report the detection of rovibrationally excited CO emission from the inner disk of the classical T Tauri star (cTTS) TW Hya. We observe ~6 × 1021 g of CO gas with a rotational temperature of 430 ± 40 K. The linearity of the excitation plot suggests that the CO is optically thin. Atypical for cTTSs, hot CO was not detected, implying that TW Hya has cleared its inner disk region out to a radial distance of ~0.5 AU. We discuss implications for the structure of the disk as it relates to replenishment and planet formation.
Recommended Citation
Please use publisher's recommended citation.
Comments
This manuscript has been published in the The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Please find the published version here (note that a subscription is necessary to access this version):
http://iopscience.iop.org/1538-4357/616/2/L163
The American Astronomical Society holds the copyright in this article.