Ne II] and X-ray emission from ρ Ophiuchi young stellar objects

Abstract

Circumstellar disks are mostly made of gas. Constraining the spatial and thermal structure of the gas, and its time evolution, is crucial to understand the star- and planet-formation processes. Models predict that the gas is affected by UV and X-ray radiation from the central young stellar object (YSO), but many uncertainties remain, e.g. whether the EUV emission actually reaches the disk or is absorbed by disk winds. The infrared [Ne II] and [Ne III] fine structure lines at 12.81μm and 15.55μm have been theoretically predicted to trace the circumstellar disk gas subject to X-ray heating and ionization.