THE VLA VIEW OF THE HL TAU DISK: DISK MASS, GRAIN EVOLUTION, AND EARLY PLANET FORMATION
- Instituto de Radioastronomía y Astrofísica UNAM, Apartado Postal 3-72 (Xangari), 58089 Morelia, Michoacán, México (Mexico)
- Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie Heidelberg, Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany)
- National Radio Astronomy Observatory, P.O. Box O, 1003 Lopezville Road, Socorro, NM 87801-0387 (United States)
- Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (CSIC), Apartado 3004, E-18080 Granada (Spain)
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States)
- Jansky Fellow of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (United States)
- European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2, D-85748 Garching bei München (Germany)
- Institut de Ciències de l’Espai (CSIC-IEEC) and Institut de Ciències del Cosmos (UB-IEEC), Martí i Franquès 1, E-08028 Barcelona (Spain)
- Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States)
The first long-baseline ALMA campaign resolved the disk around the young star HL Tau into a number of axisymmetric bright and dark rings. Despite the very young age of HL Tau, these structures have been interpreted as signatures for the presence of (proto)planets. The ALMA images triggered numerous theoretical studies based on disk–planet interactions, magnetically driven disk structures, and grain evolution. Of special interest are the inner parts of disks, where terrestrial planets are expected to form. However, the emission from these regions in HL Tau turned out to be optically thick at all ALMA wavelengths, preventing the derivation of surface density profiles and grain-size distributions. Here, we present the most sensitive images of HL Tau obtained to date with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array at 7.0 mm wavelength with a spatial resolution comparable to the ALMA images. At this long wavelength, the dust emission from HL Tau is optically thin, allowing a comprehensive study of the inner disk. We obtain a total disk dust mass of (1–3) × 10{sup −3} M {sub ⊙}, depending on the assumed opacity and disk temperature. Our optically thin data also indicate fast grain growth, fragmentation, and formation of dense clumps in the inner densest parts of the disk. Our results suggest that the HL Tau disk may be actually in a very early stage of planetary formation, with planets not already formed in the gaps but in the process of future formation in the bright rings.
- OSTI ID:
- 22518491
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 821, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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