Synthetic images of proto-planetary disks around young stars

We present synthetic images of accretion disks around young stars computed from a model where the disk's vertical structure is solved assuming hydrostatic equilibrium. The disk's brightness results from three emission processes: (1) the reprocessing of stellar photons in the optically thick disk's regions; (2) the scattering of stellar photons in the optically thin parts of the disk; and (3) the thermal emission of the disk due to viscous energy dissipation during the accretion process.We discuss the relative importance of these emission processes at wavelengths ranging from 1.2 to 20m.Paper presented at the Conference onPlanetary Systems: Formation, Evolution, and Detection held 7–10 December, 1992 at CalTech, Pasadena, California, U.S.A.