A SUBMILLIMETER ARRAY SURVEY OF PROTOPLANETARY DISKS IN THE ORION NEBULA CLUSTER

We present the full results of our three-year-long Submillimeter Array (SMA) survey of protoplanetary disks in the Orion Nebula Cluster. We imaged 23 fields at 880 mu m and 2 fields at 1330 mu m, covering an area of similar to 6.5 arcmin(2) and containing 67 disks. We detected 42 disks with fluxes between 6 and 135 mJy and at rms noise levels between 0.6 and 5.3 mJy beam(-1). Thermal dust emission above any free-free component was measured in 40 of the 42 detections, and the inferred disk masses range from 0.003 to 0.07 M-circle dot. We find that disks located within 0.3 pc of theta(1) Ori C have a truncated mass distribution, while disks located beyond 0.3 pc have masses more comparable to those found in low-mass star-forming regions. The disk mass distribution in Orion has a distance dependence, with a derived relationship max(M-disk) = 0.046 M-circle dot(d/0.3 pc)(0.33) for the maximum disk masses. We found evidence of grain growth in disk 197-427, the only disk detected at both 880 mu m and 1330 mu m with the SMA. Despite the rapid erosion of the outer parts of the Orion disks by photoevaporation, the potential for planet formation remains high in this massive star-forming region, with approximate to 18% of the surveyed disks having masses >= 0.01 M-circle dot within 60 AU.