Abstract

The evolutionary pathways of protoplanetary disks differ depending on the surrounding environment. In massive star clusters, UV radiation affects disks via external photoevaporative winds, depleting the disks of their material and shortening their lifetimes. Known as proplyds, such irradiated disks are typically surrounded by a teardrop-shaped cloud of ionized gas and observed in forbidden emission lines.

While external photoevaporation of disks is unique to clusters such as the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC), internal photoevaporative winds may be present in both high UV environments, and low-mass star forming regions with weak external UV fields. In the latter case, the winds arise due to radiation from the central star and can also be studied via forbidden line emission. It is therefore crucial to determine how to disentangle external winds from internal ones.

I will present the results based on the visually striking VLT /MUSE IFU data of a dozen proplyds in the ONC . This sample allows us to study the morphology of proplyds in a wealth of emission lines and determine their physical parameters. Among the results, I will present a proxy for unambiguously identifying externally driven winds with a forbidden line of neutral atomic carbon.