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T. Rettig, S. Brittain (University of Notre Dame), M.J. Mumma, N. Dello Russo, M. DiSanti (NASA/GSFC)
Planet formation has been known for many years to be tied to the accretion and evolution of gas and dust in disks around young stars. Herbig AeBe and T Tauri stars are pre-main sequence objects that often display evidence of circumstellar disks. We present infrared spectra of CO emission and absorption from several pre-main sequence stars representing various masses, spectral energy distributions, and ages. For the objects in which CO was detected, we will present the rotational temperature and column density of the gas and describe the excitation mechanism. For a few of the systems the results allow us to discuss physical scenarios. We will present these scenarios and discuss future theoretical and observational work prompted by this research.
Visiting Astronomers at the Infrared Telescope Facility, which is operated by the University of Hawaii under contract from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.