Attention:NSF PAR will be unavailable due to scheduled facility maintenance July 10th, 5 PM EDT through July 13th. We apologize for any inconvenience.


Title: Early Grain Growth in the Young Protostellar Disk HH 212 Supported by Dust Self-scattering Modeling
Abstract Grain growth in disks around young stars plays a crucial role in the formation of planets. Early grain growth has been suggested in the HH 212 protostellar disk by previous polarization observations. To confirm it and to determine the grain size, we analyze high-resolution multiband observations of the disk obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in bands 9 (0.4 mm), 7 (0.9 mm), 6 (1.3 mm), and 3 (3 mm), as well as with the Very Large Array (VLA) in bandKa(9 mm), and we present new VLA data in bandsQ(7 mm),K(1.3 cm), andX(3 cm). We adopt a parameterized flared disk model to fit the continuum maps of the disk in these bands and derive the opacities, albedos, and opacity spectral indexβof the dust in the disk, taking into account the dust scattering ignored in the previous work modeling the multiband data of this source. For the VLA bands, we only include the bandQdata in our modeling to avoid free–free emission contamination. The obtained opacities, albedos, and opacity spectral indexβ(with a value of  ∼1.2) suggest that the upper limit of maximum grain size in the disk should be  ∼130μm, consistent with that implied in the previous polarization observations in band 7, supporting the grain growth in this disk. The values of the absorption opacities further highlight the need for a new dust composition model for Class 0/I disks.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2307199
PAR ID:
10608969
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
American Astronomical Society
Date Published:
Journal Name:
The Astrophysical Journal
Volume:
981
Issue:
1
ISSN:
0004-637X
Page Range / eLocation ID:
12
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. null (Ed.)
    Context. Recent years have seen building evidence that planet formation starts early, in the first ~0.5 Myr. Studying the dust masses available in young disks enables us to understand the origin of planetary systems given that mature disks are lacking the solid material necessary to reproduce the observed exoplanetary systems, especially the massive ones. Aims. We aim to determine if disks in the embedded stage of star formation contain enough dust to explain the solid content of the most massive exoplanets. Methods. We use Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Band 6 (1.1–1.3 mm) continuum observations of embedded disks in the Perseus star-forming region together with Very Large Array (VLA) Ka -band (9 mm) data to provide a robust estimate of dust disk masses from the flux densities measured in the image plane. Results. We find a strong linear correlation between the ALMA and VLA fluxes, demonstrating that emission at both wavelengths is dominated by dust emission. For a subsample of optically thin sources, we find a median spectral index of 2.5 from which we derive the dust opacity index β = 0.5, suggesting significant dust growth. Comparison with ALMA surveys of Orion shows that the Class I dust disk mass distribution between the two regions is similar, but that the Class 0 disks are more massive in Perseus than those in Orion. Using the DIANA opacity model including large grains, with a dust opacity value of κ 9 mm = 0.28 cm 2 g −1 , the median dust masses of the embedded disks in Perseus are 158 M ⊕ for Class 0 and 52 M ⊕ for Class I from the VLA fluxes. The lower limits on the median masses from ALMA fluxes are 47 M ⊕ and 12 M ⊕ for Class 0 and Class I, respectively, obtained using the maximum dust opacity value κ 1.3 mm = 2.3 cm 2 g −1 . The dust masses of young Class 0 and I disks are larger by at least a factor of ten and three, respectively, compared with dust masses inferred for Class II disks in Lupus and other regions. Conclusions. The dust masses of Class 0 and I disks in Perseus derived from the VLA data are high enough to produce the observed exoplanet systems with efficiencies acceptable by planet formation models: the solid content in observed giant exoplanets can be explained if planet formation starts in Class 0 phase with an efficiency of ~15%. A higher efficiency of ~30% is necessary if the planet formation is set to start in Class I disks. 
    more » « less
  2. Context. Multiwavelength dust continuum and polarization observations arising from self-scattering have been used to investigate grain sizes in young disks. However, the likelihood of self-scattering being the polarization mechanism in embedded disks decreases for very highly optically thick disks and makes us reconsider some of the size constraints from polarization, particularly for younger and more massive disks. The 1.3 mm polarized emission detected toward the hot (≳400 K) Class 0 disk IRAS 16293-2422 B has been attributed to self-scattering, with predictions of bare grain sizes between 200 and 2000 µm. Aims. We aim to investigate the effects of changing the maximum grain sizes in the resultant continuum and continuum polarization fractions from self-scattering for a hot and massive Class 0 disk extracted from numerical simulations of prestellar core collapse and to compare them with IRAS 16293 B observations. Methods. We compared new and archival dust continuum and polarization observations at high resolution between 1.3 and 18 mm to a set of synthetic models. We developed a new publicly available tool to automate this process called Synthesizer. This tool is an easy-to-use program for generating synthetic observations from numerical simulations. Results. Optical depths are in the range of 130 to 2 from 1.3 to 18 mm, respectively. Predictions of significant grain growth populations, includingamax= 1000 µm, are comparable to the observations from IRAS 16293 B at all observed wavelengths. The polarization fraction produced by self-scattering reaches a maximum of approximately 0.1% at 1.3 mm for a maximum grain size of 100 µm, which is an order of magnitude lower than the grain size observed toward IRAS 16293 B. Conclusions. From comparison of the StokesIfluxes, we conclude that significant grain growth could be present in the young Class 0 disk IRAS 16293 B, particularly in the inner hot region (< 10 au,T> 300 K) where refractory organics evaporate. The polarization produced by self-scattering in our model is not high enough to explain the observations at 1.3 and 7 mm, and such effects as dichroic extinction and polarization reversal of elongated aligned grains remain other possible but untested scenarios. 
    more » « less
  3. ABSTRACT Polarization is a unique tool to study the dust grains of protoplanetary discs. Polarization around HL Tau was previously imaged using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) at Bands 3 (3.1 mm), 6 (1.3 mm), and 7 (0.87 mm), showing that the polarization orientation changes across wavelength λ. Polarization at Band 7 is predominantly parallel to the disc minor axis but appears azimuthally oriented at Band 3, with the morphology at Band 6 in between the two. We present new ∼0.2 arcsec (29 au) polarization observations at Q-Band (7.0 mm) using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) and at Bands 4 (2.1 mm), 5 (1.5 mm), and 7 using ALMA, consolidating HL Tau’s position as the protoplanetary disc with the most complete wavelength coverage in dust polarization. The polarization patterns at Bands 4 and 5 follow the previously identified morphological transition with wavelength. From the azimuthal variation, we decompose the polarization into contributions from scattering (s) and thermal emission (t). s decreases slowly with increasing λ, and t increases more rapidly which are expected from optical depth effects of toroidally aligned scattering prolate grains. The weak λ dependence of s is inconsistent with the simplest case of Rayleigh scattering by small grains in the optically thin limit but can be affected by factors such as optical depth, disc substructure, and dust porosity. The sparse polarization detections from the Q-band image are also consistent with toroidally aligned prolate grains. 
    more » « less
  4. null (Ed.)
    ABSTRACT (Sub)millimetre dust opacities are required for converting the observable dust continuum emission to the mass, but their values have long been uncertain, especially in discs around young stellar objects. We propose a method to constrain the opacity κν in edge-on discs from a characteristic optical depth τ0,ν, the density ρ0, and radius R0 at the disc outer edge through κν = τ0,ν/(ρ0R0), where τ0,ν is inferred from the shape of the observed flux along the major axis, ρ0 from gravitational stability considerations, and R0 from direct imaging. We applied the 1D semi-analytical model to the embedded, Class 0, HH 212 disc, which has high-resolution data in Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array (ALMA) bands 9, 7, 6, and 3 and Very Large Array Ka band (λ = 0.43, 0.85, 1.3, 2.9, and 9.1 mm). The modelling is extended to 2D through RADMC-3D radiative transfer calculations. We find a dust opacity of κν ≈ 1.9 × 10−2, 1.3 × 10−2, and 4.9 × 10−3 cm2 g−1 of gas and dust for ALMA bands 7, 6, and 3, respectively, with uncertainties dependent on the adopted stellar mass. The inferred opacities lend support to the widely used prescription κλ = 2.3 × 10−2(1.3mm/λ) cm2 g−1 . We inferred a temperature of ∼45 K at the disc outer edge that increases radially inwards. It is well above the sublimation temperatures of ices such as CO and N2, which supports the notion that the disc chemistry cannot be completely inherited from the protostellar envelope. 
    more » « less
  5. Abstract Millimeter and submillimeter observations of continuum linear dust polarization provide insight into dust grain growth in protoplanetary disks, which are the progenitors of planetary systems. We present the results of the first survey of dust polarization in protoplanetary disks at 870μm and 3 mm. We find that protoplanetary disks in the same molecular cloud at similar evolutionary stages can exhibit different correlations between observing wavelength and polarization morphology and fraction. We explore possible origins for these differences in polarization, including differences in dust populations and protostar properties. For RY Tau and MWC 480, which are consistent with scattering at both wavelengths, we present models of the scattering polarization from several dust grain size distributions. These models aim to reproduce two features of the observational results for these disks: (1) both disks have an observable degree of polarization at both wavelengths; and (2) the polarization fraction is higher at 3 mm than at 870μm in the centers of the disks. For both disks, these features can be reproduced by a power-law distribution of spherical dust grains with a maximum radius of 200μm and high optical depth. In MWC 480, we can also reproduce features (1) and (2) with a model containing large grains (amax= 490μm) near the disk midplane and small grains (amax= 140μm) above and below the midplane. 
    more » « less