Modeling and interpretation of images

Abstract

Imaging protoplanetary disks is a challenging but rewarding task. It is challenging because of the glare of the central star outshining the weak signal from the disk at shorter wavelengths and because of the limited spatial resolution at longer wavelengths. It is rewarding because it contains a wealth of information on the structure of the disks and can (directly) probe things like gaps and spiral structure. Because it is so challenging, telescopes are often pushed to their limitations to get a signal. Proper interpretation of these images therefore requires intimate knowledge of the instrumentation, the detection method, and the image processing steps. In this chapter I will give some examples and stress some issues that are important when interpreting images from protoplanetary disks.