scientific abstract fu orionis stars (fuors) represent a rare and unique class of pre-main-sequence objects of which only about nine members are known. most probably they consist of a t tauri-like star surrounded by a very luminous accretion disc currently in a state of very high mass accretion (approx. 10**-4 msun/yr). we propose to measure the spectral energy distributions of all known fuors and fuor candidates between 3.6 and 160 microns. with the addition of iras and ground-based measurements, the time evolution of these discs can be studied. these studies - combined with a comparison with other young stars - will lead to a much better understanding of the properties of fuor discs, the physical processes in accretion discs, and hence discs around young stars in general. observation summary we propose to measure the spectral energy distributions of almost all of the classic fuors - bbw 76, fu ori, l1551-irs5, rno1b, v1057 cyg, v1515 cyg, v1735 cyg, and v346 nor - from 4.8 to 100 microns using the pht-p photometer. some important objects have been left out due to object complexity (z cma) or to spacecraft time limitations (e.g. svs 13) and will have to be observed during the normal open observing periods. a uniform aperture of 180 has been chosen for these bright objects so that peaking the position will be unnecessary and to insure that the same region of the sky is observed in all filters. the filters have been chosen so that each effective wavelength is approx. twice/half that of the previous/next filter, insuring good coverage of the spectral energy distribution. the 4.8 micron filter is important in order to compare ground-based with iso fluxes. the other filters are similar to the iras bandpasses - a necessary condition for the detection of any changes between the two epochs. the total times for the performance of each on and off - 586 and 426s, respectively - were calculated using the isophot observing time estimator and a uniform exposure time of 32s for each of these bright sources. the times for the concatenated off aot.s are realistic given the fact that they are all very close to the on aot.s. the resulting total times for each source (on and off) are then 1012s. the total integration times for the 6/5 sources (12/10 aot.s for the on and off measurements) for the spring/fall launch date is 6072/5060s (1.69/1.41 hrs), an increase of 22/27% from the phase 2 estimates. this difference is due to the correction of the exposure times (from 8 or 16 to 32s) and could only be partially mitigated by a decrease in the number of filters (from 9 to an absolute minimum of 5). further savings are possible if the proposal were to be changed from ph03 to ph19 (sparce maps) sometime this spring (when such are supported by the pga!.
Instrument
PHT03 , PHT22
Temporal Coverage
1996-02-08T18:39:43Z/1996-05-20T14:44:04Z
Version
1.0
Mission Description
The Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) was the worlds first true orbiting infrared observatory. Equipped with four highly-sophisticated and versatile scientific instruments, it was launched by Ariane in November 1995 and provided astronomers world-wide with a facility of unprecedented sensitivity and capabilities for a detailed exploration of the Universe at infrared wavelengths.
