skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: ALMA HINTS AT THE PRESENCE OF TWO COMPANIONS IN THE DISK AROUND HD 100546

Journal Article · · Astrophysical Journal Letters
; ; ; ; ;  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [8]
  1. Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden (Netherlands)
  2. Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO), Alonso de Córdova 3107, Vitacura, Santiago (Chile)
  3. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
  4. Dep. de Física Teórica, Fac. de Ciencias, UAM Campus Cantoplanco, E-28049 Madrid (Spain)
  5. Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 2-12-1 Ookayama, Meguro-ku, 152-8551 Tokyo (Japan)
  6. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Kobe University, 1-1 Rokkodai-cho, Nada, 657-8501 Kobe (Japan)
  7. Astrophysics Research Centre, School of Mathematics and Physics, Queen's University Belfast, University Road, Belfast, BT7 1NN (United Kingdom)
  8. SOFIA-USRA, NASA Ames Research Center, MS 232-12, Building N232, Rm. 146, P.O. Box 1, Moffett Field, CA 94035-0001 (United States)

HD 100546 is a well-studied Herbig Be star-disk system that likely hosts a close-in companion with compelling observational evidence for an embedded protoplanet at 68 AU. We present Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array observations of the HD 100546 disk which resolve the gas and dust structure at (sub)millimeter wavelengths. The CO emission (at 345.795 GHz) originates from an extensive molecular disk (390 ± 20 AU in radius) whereas the continuum emission is more compact (230 ± 20 AU in radius), suggesting radial drift of the millimeter-sized grains. The CO emission is similar in extent to scattered light images indicating well-mixed gas and micrometer-sized grains in the disk atmosphere. Assuming azimuthal symmetry, a single-component power-law model cannot reproduce the continuum visibilities. The visibilities and images are better reproduced by a double-component model: a compact ring with a width of 21 AU centered at 26 AU and an outer ring with a width of 75 ± 3 AU centered at 190 ± 3 AU. The influence of a companion and protoplanet on the dust evolution is investigated. The companion at 10 AU facilitates the accumulation of millimeter-sized grains within a compact ring, ≈20-30 AU, by ≈10 Myr. The injection of a protoplanet at 1 Myr hastens the ring formation (≈1.2 Myr) and also triggers the development of an outer ring (≈100-200 AU). These observations provide additional evidence for the presence of a close-in companion and hint at dynamical clearing by a protoplanet in the outer disk.

OSTI ID:
22365404
Journal Information:
Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 791, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English