AAO Colloquium.
Monday 10 February 2003
11am AAO Conference Room
Probing the circumstellar structure of Pre-Main Sequence Stars
Jorick Vink
Imperial College
We present H_alpha spectropolarimetry observations of T Tauri and
Herbig Ae/Be stars. The technique enables us to probe
the circumstellar structure around these different types of Pre-Main
Sequence (PMS) objects at small scales.
By studying PMS stars over a wide spectral range, we explore whether
physics of known importance for lower mass (T Tauri) stars, such as the
presence of accretion discs, is also relevant for
earlier type PMS objects. Our data caries vital information on the small
scale structure that is required to answer the fundamental question of
whether more massive stars form in a manner analogous to T Tauri stars, i.e.
by accretion, or whether they form in an entirely different mode
(stellar collisions).
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