Interpreting Spectral Energy Distributions from Young Stellar Objects. II. Fitting Observed SEDs Using a Large Grid of Precomputed Models

Abstract

We present a method to analyze the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of\nyoung stellar objects (YSOs). Our approach is to fit data with pre-computed 2-D\nradiation transfer models spanning a large region of parameter space. This\nallows us to determine not only a single set of physical parameter values but\nthe entire range of values consistent with the multi-wavelength observations of\na given source. In this way we hope to avoid any over-interpretation when\nmodeling a set of data. We have constructed spectral energy distributions from\noptical to sub-mm wavelengths, including new Spitzer IRAC and MIPS photometry,\nfor 30 young and spatially resolved sources in the Taurus-Auriga star-forming\nregion. We demonstrate fitting model SEDs to these sources, and find that we\ncorrectly identify the evolutionary stage and physical parameters found from\nprevious independent studies, such as disk mass, disk accretion rate, and\nstellar temperature. We also explore how fluxes at various wavelengths help to\nconstrain physical parameters, and show examples of degeneracies that can occur\nwhen fitting SEDs. A web-based version of this tool is available to the\ncommunity at http://www.astro.wisc.edu/protostars .\n