Deep MIPS observations of the IC 348 Nebula: Constraints on the evolutionary state of anemic circumstellar disks and the primordial-to-debris disk transition

Abstract

We describe new, deep MIPS photometry and new high signal-to-noise optical spectroscopy of the 2.5 Myr old IC 348 Nebula. To probe the properties of the IC 348 disk population, we combine these data with previous optical/infrared photometry and spectroscopy to identify stars with gas accretion, to examine their mid-IR colors, and to model their spectral energy distributions. IC 348 contains many sources in different evolutionary states, including protostars and stars surrounded by primordial disks, two kinds of transitional disks, and debris disks. Most disks surrounding early/intermediate spectral-type stars (>1.4 M at 2.5 Myr) are debris disks; most disks surrounding solar and subsolar-mass stars are primordial disks. At the 1-2 σ level, more massive stars also have a smaller frequency of gas accretion and smaller mid-IR luminosities than lower-mass stars. These trends are suggestive of a stellar mass-dependent evolution of disks, where most disks around high/intermediate- mass stars shed their primordial disks on rapid, 2.5 Myr timescales. The frequency of MIPS-detected transitional disks is 15%-35% for stars plausibly more massive than 0.5 M. The relative frequency of transitional disks in IC 348 compared to that for 1 Myr old Taurus and 5 Myr old NGC 2362 is consistent with a transition timescale that is a significant fraction of the total primordial disk lifetime. © 2009. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..