RINGED SUBSTRUCTURE AND A GAP AT 1 au IN THE NEAREST PROTOPLANETARY DISK

Journal Article · Fri Apr 01 04:00:00 EDT 2016 · Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/820/2/L40· OSTI ID:22518521

Andrews, Sean M.; Wilner, David J.; Bai, Xue-Ning; Öberg, Karin I.; Ricci, Luca ^[1]; Zhu, Zhaohuan ^[2]; Birnstiel, Tilman ^[3]; Carpenter, John M. ^[4]; Pérez, Laura M. ^[5]; Hughes, A. Meredith ^[6]; Isella, Andrea ^[7]

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1. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
2. Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, 4 Ivy Lane, Peyton Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544 (United States)
3. Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg (Germany)
4. Joint ALMA Observatory (JAO), Alonso de Cordova 3107, Vitacura-Santiago de Chile (Chile)
5. Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Auf dem Hügel 69, D-53121 Bonn (Germany)
6. Department of Astronomy, Wesleyan University, Van Vleck Observatory, 96 Foss Hill Drive, Middletown, CT 06457 (United States)
7. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, 6100 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005 (United States)

We present long baseline Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of the 870 μm continuum emission from the nearest gas-rich protoplanetary disk, around TW Hya, that trace millimeter-sized particles down to spatial scales as small as 1 au (20 mas). These data reveal a series of concentric ring-shaped substructures in the form of bright zones and narrow dark annuli (1–6 au) with modest contrasts (5%–30%). We associate these features with concentrations of solids that have had their inward radial drift slowed or stopped, presumably at local gas pressure maxima. No significant non-axisymmetric structures are detected. Some of the observed features occur near temperatures that may be associated with the condensation fronts of major volatile species, but the relatively small brightness contrasts may also be a consequence of magnetized disk evolution (the so-called zonal flows). Other features, particularly a narrow dark annulus located only 1 au from the star, could indicate interactions between the disk and young planets. These data signal that ordered substructures on ∼au scales can be common, fundamental factors in disk evolution and that high-resolution microwave imaging can help characterize them during the epoch of planet formation.

• OSTI ID: 22518521
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Letters Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 820; ISSN 2041-8205
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
AXIAL SYMMETRY
BRIGHTNESS
CONCENTRATION RATIO
EMISSION SPECTRA
INFRARED SPECTRA
MICROWAVE RADIATION
PLANETS
PROTOPLANETS
RESOLUTION
STARS
VOLATILITY
ZONES