Geoffrey Blake

Title: Water Vapor and Organics in the Planet-Forming Region of Circumstellar Disks

Abstract: With the advent of high dynamic range infrared observations from space
(Spitzer IRS) and the ground (principally with Keck-NIRSPEC and
VLT-CRIRES), widespread molecular emission from the inner regions of
circumstellar disks has recently been observed. The data from Spitzer in
particular reveal a mid-infrared molecular line forest dominated by the
pure rotational lines of water vapor and the hydroxyl radical along with
the bending rovibrational modes of acetylene, hydrogen cyanide, and carbon
dioxide. Follow up observations from the ground at high spectral and
angular resolution confirm the disk origin of this emission, and together
these data sets provide stringent probes of the disk surfaces at distances
of a few tenths to a few AU. This talk will present results from an
extensive Spitzer IRS survey of the molecular emission from disks around
stars of spectral types from A to M, high dispersion ground-based
observations of selected species and transitions, and detailed radiative
transfer models of the molecular emission from circumstellar disks. As
time permits, thoughts about future observations with Herschel, ALMA, and
the JWST will be shared