Issue |
A&A
Volume 505, Number 2, October II 2009
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | 695 - 706 | |
Section | Stellar structure and evolution | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/200810972 | |
Published online | 24 July 2009 |
Results from DROXO*
II. [Ne II] and X-ray emission from ρ Ophiuchi young stellar objects
1
INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo, Piazza del Parlamento 1, 90134 Palermo, Italy e-mail: ettoref@astropa.unipa.it
2
Dip. di Scienze Fisiche e Astronomiche, Sez. di Astronomia, Università di Palermo, Piazza del Parlamento 1, 90134 Palermo, Italy
3
INAF – Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo E. Fermi 5, 50125 Firenze, Italy
4
ESO, Karl Schwarzschild Str. 2, 85748 Garching bei München, Germany
Received:
17
September
2008
Accepted:
16
June
2009
Context. The infrared [Ne II] and [Ne III] fine structure lines at 12.81 μm and 15.55 μm have recently been theoretically predicted to trace the circumstellar disk gas subject to X-ray heating and ionization.
Aims. We observationally investigate the origin of the neon fine structure line emission by comparing observations with models of X-ray irradiated disks and by searching for empirical correlations between the line luminosities and stellar and circumstellar parameters.
Methods. We select a sample of 28 young stellar objects in the ρ Ophiuchi star formation region for which good quality infrared spectra and X-ray data have been obtained, the former with the Spitzer/IRS and the latter with the deep rho Ophiuchi XMM-Newton observation (DROXO). We measure neon line fluxes and X-ray luminosities; we complement these data with stellar/circumstellar parameters obtained by fitting the spectral energy distributions of our objects (from optical to millimeter wavelengths) with star/disk/envelope models.
Results. We detect the [Ne II] and the [Ne III] lines in 10 and 1 cases, respectively. Line luminosities show no correlation with X-ray emission. The luminosity of the [Ne II] line for one star, and that of both the [Ne II] and [Ne III] lines for a second star, match the predictions of published models of X-ray irradiated disks; for the remaining 8 objects the [Ne II] emission is 1–3 dex higher than predicted on the basis of their LX. However, the stellar/circumstellar characteristics assumed in published models do not match those of most of the stars in our sample. Class I objects show significantly stronger [Ne II] lines than Class II and Class III ones. A correlation is moreover found between the [Ne II] line emission and the disk mass accretion rates estimated from the spectral energy distributions. This might point toward a role of accretion-generated UV emission in the generation of the line or to other mechanisms related to mass inflows from circumstellar disks and envelopes and/or to the associated mass outflows (winds and jets).
Conclusions. The X-ray luminosity is clearly not the only parameter that determines the [Ne II] emission. For more exacting tests of X-ray irradiated disk models, these must be computed for the stellar and circumstellar characteristics of the observed objects. Explaining the strong [Ne II] emission of Class I objects likely requires the inclusion in the models of additional physical components such as the envelope, inflows, and outflows.
Key words: stars: activity / stars: formation / stars: circumstellar matter / stars: planetary systems: protoplanetary disks / stars: pre-main sequence
© ESO, 2009
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