Revisiting the case of R Monocerotis: Is CO removed at R < 20 au?
Journal article, 2018

Context. To our knowledge, R Mon is the only B0 star in which a gaseous Keplerian disk has been detected. However, there is some controversy about the spectral type of R Mon. Some authors propose that it could be a later B8e star, where disks are more common. Aims. Our goal is to re-evaluate the R Mon spectral type and characterize its protoplanetary disk. Methods. The spectral type of R Mon has been re-evaluated using the available continuum data and UVES emission lines. We used a power-law disk model to fit previous12CO 1 →0 and 2 →1 interferometric observations and the PACS CO data to investigate the disk structure. Interferometric detections of13CO J = 1 →0, HCO+1 →0, and CN 1 →0 lines using the IRAM Plateau de Bure Interferometer (PdBI) are presented. The HCN 1 →0 line was not detected. Results. Our analysis confirms that R Mon is a B0 star. The disk model compatible with the12CO 1 →0 and 2 →1 interferometric observations falls short of predicting the observed fluxes of the 14 < Ju< 31 PACS lines; this is consistent with the scenario in which some contribution to these lines is coming from a warm envelope and/or UV-illuminated outflow walls. More interestingly, the upper limits to the fluxes of the Ju> 31 CO lines suggest the existence of a region empty of CO at R ? 20 au in the protoplanetary disk. The intense emission of the HCO+and CN lines shows the strong influence of UV photons on gas chemistry. Conclusions. The observations gathered in this paper are consistent with the presence of a transition disk with a cavity of Rin≥ 20 au around R Mon. This size is similar to the photoevaporation radius that supports the interpretation that UV photoevaporation is main disk dispersal mechanism in massive stars.

Circumstellar matter

Stars: formation

Stars: emission-line, Be

Author

T. Alonso-Albi

Spanish National Observatory (OAN)

P. Riviere-Marichalar

CSIC - Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (ICMM)

A. Fuente

Spanish National Observatory (OAN)

S. Pacheco-Vázquez

Spanish National Observatory (OAN)

B. Montesinos

Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB)

R. Bachiller

Spanish National Observatory (OAN)

Sandra Treviño Morales

CSIC - Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (ICMM)

Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Astronomy and Plasmaphysics

Astronomy and Astrophysics

0004-6361 (ISSN) 1432-0746 (eISSN)

Vol. 617 A31

Subject Categories

Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics

Other Physics Topics

Infrastructure

Onsala Space Observatory

DOI

10.1051/0004-6361/201731658

More information

Latest update

9/28/2018