2021 Project Description

The nature of low-velocity winds from young stars with protoplanetary disks

Supervisors

Hiro Takami, Jennifer Karr
Find out more about supervisors on ASIAA website

Task Description and Goals

The photoevaporation processes in protoplanetary disks (i.e., nurseries for planet formation) may significantly affect the evolution of the disks at planet forming radii, and therefore the final planetary architectures. The student will be expected to reduce data and analyze the low-velocity wind emission seen in our optical spectra obtained at Subaru, one of the best optical-IR telescopes in the world. Thanks to the large mirror of the telescope, the spectra must contain a number of emission lines from a variety of atoms and ions, useful for investigating kinematics and ionizing structures in the wind. Using emission line profiles and their positional offsets, we will analyze the physical conditions of the winds associated with a few active young stars and investigate if the wind is driven by photoevaporation or another physical mechanism. We would be happy to continue to work with the student even after this summer if s/he is exceptionally good and the project becomes successful enough for professional publication.

Required Background

• Basic knowlegdge in physics and mathematics. Basic/advanced knowledge in astrophysics is preferred, but not mandatory.
• Experience in computer programming.
• Remote supervison is possible only if the student has:
  • his/her own access to a computer with IRAF, pyraf and python;
  • extensive experience in reducing the optical spectra using the above software; and
  • extensive experience in python programming with matplotlib.