Mid-IR observations of circumstellar disks. I. Pre-main sequence objects

We present new N-band photometry and spectroscopy for a sample of eight pre-main sequence stars including T Tauri, Herbig Ae/Be stars and FU Ori objects using the ESO TIMMI2 camera at the La Silla observatory (Chile). For some objects this is their first N-band spectroscopic observation ever. The FU Ori stars V 346 Nor, V 883 Ori and Z CMa show a broad absorption band which we attribute to silicates, while for BBW 76 we find silicate emission. A comparison with ISO-SWS spectra of V 346 Nor and Z CMa taken in 1996/1997 reveals no differences in spectral shape. All T Tauri and Herbig Ae/Be stars possess N-band emission features. We model the emission spectra with a mixture of silicates consisting of different grain sizes and composition. The Herbig Ae star HD 34282 shows strong features of PAHs but none of silicate, while the emission spectrum of the Herbig Ae star HD 72106 resembles those of solar-system comets and known Herbig sources of evolved dust. We demonstrate that HD 72106 is host to highly processed silicates and find evidence for enstatite, which is not common in young objects. Evolved dust is also seen in the T Tauri stars HD 98800 and MP Mus. We further detected MP Mus at 1200 mu m with the bolometer array SIMBA at the SEST in La Silla. The findings of our analysis are given in the context of previous dust studies of young stellar objects.