The complex inner environments of Herbig AeBe stars

Séminaire IPAG de Myriam Benisty (MPIA Heidelberg), jeudi 3 février 2011 à 9h30, IPAG seminar room

Understanding the physical conditions in the innermost circumstellar environments of young stars is a crucial step to comprehend planet formation and evolution. To do so, one needs to access the first astronomical unit (AU) surrounding the young star, and the only technique that can reach the required milli-arcsecond resolution is optical interferometry.

In this talk, I will present recent studies based on AMBER/VLTI observations of intermediate-mass young stars (the Herbig AeBe stars). These studies aim at understanding the morphology of the innermost protoplanetary disks as well as the mechanims of mass accretion/ejection. I will conclude with some preliminary results regarding the advent of the next generation imaging instruments at the VLTI, and present images of a protoplanetary disk at the sub-AU scale.