Massive star disks

Abstract

Recent years have seen accumulating evidence for infall and rotation around disk like structures toward young stars of spectral types of early B and possibly late O. Observations indicate that the disks or tori are massive in comparison with the mass of the central stars and geometrically thick. Both properties distinguish them from the disks around low mass stars, in particular T-Tauri type stars. I review observational techniques used in studying disks around massive young stars and summarize properties of disks derived from observations. I will discuss implications of these findings for the formation of massive stars. © 2005 International Astronomical Union.