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Title: CHEMISTRY OF A PROTOPLANETARY DISK WITH GRAIN SETTLING AND Ly{alpha} RADIATION

Journal Article · · Astrophysical Journal
; ; ;  [1];  [2]
  1. Department of Astronomy, University of Michigan, 830 Dennison Building, 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States)
  2. Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy, Koenigstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg (Germany)

We present results from a model of the chemical evolution of protoplanetary disks. In our models, we directly calculate the changing propagation and penetration of a high energy radiation field with Ly{alpha} radiation included. We also explore the effect on our models of including dust grain settling. We find that, in agreement with earlier studies, the evolution of dust grains plays a large role in determining how deep the UV radiation penetrates into the disk. Significant grain settling at the midplane leads to much smaller freeze-out regions and a correspondingly larger molecular layer, which leads to an increase in column density for molecular species such as CO, CN, and SO. The inclusion of Ly{alpha} radiation impacts the disk chemistry through specific species that have large photodissociation cross sections at 1216 A. These include HCN, NH{sub 3}, and CH{sub 4}, for which the column densities are decreased by an order of magnitude or more due to the presence of Ly{alpha} radiation in the UV spectrum. A few species, such as CO{sub 2} and SO, are enhanced by the presence of Ly{alpha} radiation, but rarely by more than a factor of a few.

OSTI ID:
21567727
Journal Information:
Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 726, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/726/1/29; ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English