Confirm the transition-disk nature and cavity sizes of unresolved Serpens candidates

Confirm whether Serpens transition-disk candidates that do not converge to the simple ring or Gaussian visibility models possess inner cavities, and measure their cavity sizes using higher-resolution, higher-sensitivity observations.

Background

The ALMA survey identified 21 transition-disk candidates in Serpens, but only nine satisfied the criteria for visibility modeling. The survey resolution and sensitivity were sufficient to robustly identify only relatively large cavities, approximately 90 au or larger at the distance of Serpens.

Most of the modeled candidates did not converge to either the adopted ring or Gaussian model. The authors therefore could not exclude smaller cavities or establish whether these objects are genuine transition disks. Follow-up observations are needed both to confirm the cavities and to determine their actual sizes, which may differ from estimates based on spectral-energy-distribution modeling.