High-resolution polarimetry of Parsamian 21 : revealing the structure of an edge-on FU Ori disc

Creators: Kóspál, Á.; Ábrahám, P.; Apai, D.; Ardila, D. R.; Grady, C. A.; Henning, Th.; Juhász, A.; Miller, D. W.; Moór, A.

Abstract

We present the first high spatial resolution near-infrared direct and polarimetric observations of Parsamian 21, obtained with the Nasmyth Adaptive Optics System-CONICA instrument at the Very Large Telescope (VLT). We complemented these measurements with archival infrared observations, such as Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2) imaging, HST/Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) polarimetry, photometry with the Spitzer Space Telescope's Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) and Multiband Imaging Photometer (MIPS), spectroscopy with Spitzer's Infrared Spectrograph (IRS), as well as Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) photometry. Our main conclusions are as follows: (1) we argue that Parsamian 21 is probably an FU Orionis-type object (FUor); (2) Parsamian 21 is not associated with any rich cluster of young stars; (3) our measurements reveal a circumstellar envelope, a polar cavity and an edge-on disc; the disc seems to be geometrically flat and extends from approximately 48 to 360 au from the star; (4) the spectral energy distribution (SED) can be reproduced with a simple model of a circumstellar disc and an envelope; (5) within the framework of an evolutionary sequence of FUors proposed by Green et al. and Quanz et al., Parsamian 21 can be classified as an intermediate-aged object.

Additional Information

©2007 The Authors. Journal compilation ©2007 RAS. Accepted 2007 October 5. Received 2007 October 5; in original form 2007 August 2. We are grateful to the Paranal staff for their support during the observing run and thank our support astronomers O. Marco and N. Ageorges. For the GFP observations and data reduction, we thank G. M. Williger, G. Hilton and B. Woodgate. We also thank the reviewer, T. Gledhill, for his useful suggestions. Observing time at the Apache Point Observatory 3.5-m telescope was provided by a grant of Director's Discretionary Time. Apache Point is operated by the Astrophysical Research Consortium. The GFP is supported under NASA RTOP 51-188-01-22 to GSFC. CAG is also supported as part of the Astrophysics Data Program under NASA Contract NNH06CC28C to Eureka Scientific. This research made use of the SIMBAD astronomical data base. This material is partly based on work supported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration through the NASA Astrobiology Institute under Cooperative Agreement No. CAN-02-OSS-02 issued through the Office of Space Science. The work was partly supported by the grant OTKAK62304 of the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund. The results published in this paper are based on data collected at the European Southern Observatory in the frame of the programme P073.C-0721(A).

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