Reflectance Spectra of Circumstellar Disks

Some young stars possess circumstellar disks that can be resolved with high contrast images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope. In recent years, multiple images of these disks have been taken at different wavelengths. My work is to take all of the previous observations and combine them with images taken as a part of an HST imaging program in collaboration with Alycia Weinberger and Glenn Schneider. My main goals are to take the data and turn them into reflectance spectra of each disk in order to look for materials such as silicates, water ice, and complex organic materials. So far, we have data on three disks: HR 4796A, TW Hydrae, and HD 100546.