The Onset of Planet Formation in Brown Dwarf Disks
Abstract
The onset of planet formation in protoplanetary disks is marked by the growth and crystallization of sub-micrometer-sized dust grains accompanied by dust settling toward the disk mid-plane. Here, we present infrared spectra of disks around brown dwarfs and brown dwarf candidates. We show that all three processes occur in such cool disks in a way similar or identical to that in disks around low- and intermediate-mass stars. These results indicate that the onset of planet formation extends to disks around brown dwarfs, suggesting that planet formation is a robust process occurring in most young circumstellar disks.
- Publication:
-
Science
- Pub Date:
- November 2005
- DOI:
- 10.1126/science.1118042
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/0511420
- Bibcode:
- 2005Sci...310..834A
- Keywords:
-
- ASTRONOMY;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- Published in Science 2005, vol 310, 834