skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Search for: All records

Creators/Authors contains: "Pearce, Logan A"

Note: When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).
What is a DOI Number?

Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.

  1. Abstract 2MASS J16120668–3010270 (hereafter 2MJ1612) is a young M0 star that hosts a protoplanetary disk in the Upper Scorpius star-forming region. Recent Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of 2MJ1612 show a mildly inclined disk (i = 37°) with a large dust-depleted gap (Rcav ≈ 0 . 4 or 53 au). We present high-contrast Hαobservations from MagAO-X on the 6.5 m Magellan telescope and new high-resolution submillimeter dust continuum observations with ALMA of 2MJ1612. On both 2025 April 13 and 16, we recovered a point source with Hαexcess with a signal-to-noise ratio ≳5 within the disk gap in our MagAO-X angular and spectral differential images at a separation of 141.96 ± 2.10 mas (23.45 ± 0.29 au deprojected) from the star and a position angle ​​​​​of 159 . ° 00 ± 0 . ° 55. Furthermore, this Hαsource is within close proximity to aK-band point source in the SPHERE/IRDIS observation taken on 2023 July 21. The astrometric offset between theKband and Hαsource can be explained by orbital motion of a bound companion. Thus, our observations can be best explained by the discovery of an accreting protoplanet, 2MJ1612 b, with an estimated mass of 4MJupand a Hαline flux ranging from (29.7 ± 7.5) × 10−16erg s cm2to (8.2 ± 3.4) × 10−16erg s cm2. 2MJ1612 b is likely the third example of an accreting Hαprotoplanet responsible for carving the gap in its host disk, joining PDS 70 b and c. Further study is necessary to confirm and characterize this protoplanet candidate and to identify any additional protoplanets that may also play a role in shaping the gap. 
    more » « less
    Free, publicly-accessible full text available September 10, 2026
  2. null (Ed.)