Leiden University Student Repository

Mes, Jelle (2017)

The protoplanetary disk and surroundings of the Herbig Be star MWC147

Bachelor thesis | Natuurkunde (BSc)

Recent advancements in imaging techniques have enabled the detection of thousands of exoplanets, as well as the characterization of a multitude of protoplanetary disks. These disks are believed to form planets, but have mostly been observed around low mass T Tauri stars. No observations of disks around high mass Herbig Be stars exist, raising the question whether planets and especially giant planets can form there. Using archival data from VLT/SPHERE/IRDIS, one of the world’s best direct imagers for exoplanets and protoplanetary disks, we have attempted to image the disk of such a Herbig Be star, MWC147 (alias V700 Mon & HD259431). For this data reduction, a variety of correction techniques are demonstrated and compared against each other. The resulting images reveal the prescence of a second companion, dubbed MWC147 C, and a large bow shaped structure. Furthermore, a model of VLT/SPHERE/ZIMPOL was designed to quantify the effects of instrumental polarization and crosstalk on the...Show moreRecent advancements in imaging techniques have enabled the detection of thousands of exoplanets, as well as the characterization of a multitude of protoplanetary disks. These disks are believed to form planets, but have mostly been observed around low mass T Tauri stars. No observations of disks around high mass Herbig Be stars exist, raising the question whether planets and especially giant planets can form there. Using archival data from VLT/SPHERE/IRDIS, one of the world’s best direct imagers for exoplanets and protoplanetary disks, we have attempted to image the disk of such a Herbig Be star, MWC147 (alias V700 Mon & HD259431). For this data reduction, a variety of correction techniques are demonstrated and compared against each other. The resulting images reveal the prescence of a second companion, dubbed MWC147 C, and a large bow shaped structure. Furthermore, a model of VLT/SPHERE/ZIMPOL was designed to quantify the effects of instrumental polarization and crosstalk on the polarimetric efficiency of the instrument. Finally, an observing proposal for VLT/SPHERE was written with the goal of obtaining better data of MWC147, such that the bow shaped structure and disk of MWC147 could be better characterized.Show less

MWC 147

V700 Mon

HD 259431

PDI

VLT

SPHERE

ZIMPOL

ExPo

Disk

Herbig Be

Author

Mes, Jelle

Faculty

Faculty of Science

Supervisors

Boer, Jos de

ECTS Credits

3

Language

en