Disk masses in the Orion Trapezium Cluster
First Author:
Jonathan Williams
Email: jpw AT ifa.hawaii.edu
University of Hawaii
2680 Woodlawn Drive
Honolulu, HI 96816, USA
Coauthors:
Mann, Rita, University of Hawaii
Abstract
We present the results of a 3 year Submillimeter Array survey to measure the 880 um flux toward 41 protoplanetary disks in the Trapezium Cluster in Orion. The disks are identified from HST observations as silhouettes against the bright nebular background and many show cometary tails due to external photoevaporation by the massive stars. The interferometer resolves individual disks and filters out much of the cloud background. The short wavelength allows the disk dust emission to be measured as an excess over the free-free emission from the ionized cocoons. The resulting disk mass function is shown to be similar to that of Taurus and rho Ophiuchus Class II disks but lacks disks more massive than 0.03 Msun. We show that this is consistent with models of external photoevaporation in which the outer disk is rapidly eroded but inner regions, at radii < 50 AU, survive and have enough material to form planetary systems on the scale of our own.
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