The following document lists the file abstract/DBOCKELE_VEGA_ICE.abs
from catalogue VI/111.
A plain copy of the file
(without headers/trailers) may be downloaded.
It is now known that several main sequence stars possess circumstellar disks (Vega-like stars) which may be analogues of the protoplanetary disk of our own solar system. One of the best studied star is Beta Pic, whose disk has been optically imaged. While significant constraints were obtained on the general disk properties, little is known about the composition of the grains. We propose to use the SWS spectrograph to undertake high resolution spectroscopic observations of Beta-Pic and other Vega-like systems. The goal is to search for signatures of frozen CO and CO2, at respectively 4.67 and 4.27 mu, in order to put constraints on the composition of the circumstellar material. These observations will usefully complement the SWS and PHOT-S observations of the central program whose spectral resolutions are quite appropriate for searching for broad band signatures of polar molecules but too low for the narrow bands of CO and CO2. The interest in searching for CO and CO2 is that these molecules are expected to be important constituents of the circumstellar grains in Vega-like systems. Compositional inferences and detailed comparison with interstellar dust, circumstellar dust around younger stars, cometary ices and solar nebula models should lead to a better understanding of planetary system formation.