Circumstellar Disk Accretion Across Lagoon Nebula

We aim to establish the impact of internal (stellar mass) and external (radiation field) parameters on the disk evolution in the Lagoon Nebula massive star-forming region. We employ simultaneous u, g, r, i, H{alpha} time-series photometry, archival infrared data, and high-precision K2 light curves to derive the stellar, disk, and accretion properties for 1012 Lagoon Nebula members.

We estimate that of all young stars in the Lagoon Nebula, 34%-37% have inner disks traceable down to ~12{mu}m, while 38%-41% are actively accreting. We detect disks ~1.5 times more frequently around G, K, and M stars than around higher-mass stars, which appear to deplete their inner disks on shorter timescales. We find tentative evidence for a faster disk evolution in the central regions of the Lagoon Nebula, where the bulk of the O/B population is located.