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DOE OSTI2021

Wide Dust Gaps in Protoplanetary Disks Induced by Eccentric Planets: A Mass-eccentricity Degeneracy

The tidal perturbation of embedded protoplanets on their natal disks has been widely attributed to be the cause of gap-ring structures in submillimeter images of protoplanetary disks around T Tauri stars. Numerical simulations of this process have been used to propose scaling of characteristic dust-gap width/gap-ring distance with respect to planet mass. Applying such scaling to analyze observed gap samples yields a continuous mass distribution for a rich population of hypothetical planets in the range of several Earth to Jupiter masses. In contrast, the conventional core-accretion scenario of planet formation predicts a bimodal mass function due to (1) the onset of runaway gas accretion above ~20 Earth masses and (2) suppression of accretion induced by gap opening. Here, we examine the dust disk response to the tidal perturbation of eccentric planets as a possible resolution of this paradox. Based on simulated gas and dust distributions, we show the gap-ring separation of Neptune-mass planets with small eccentricities might become comparable to that induced by Saturn-mass planets on circular orbits. Furthermore, this degeneracy may obliterate the discrepancy between the theoretical bimodal mass distribution and the observed continuous gap width distribution. Despite damping due to planet–disk interaction, modest eccentricity may be sustained either in the outer regions of relatively thick disks or through resonant excitation among multiple super Earths. Moreover, the ring-like dust distribution induced by planets with small eccentricities is axisymmetric even in low viscosity environments, consistent with the paucity of vortices in Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array images.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2016

Discovery of a substellar companion to the nearby debris disk host HR 2562

Here, we present the discovery of a brown dwarf companion to the debris disk host star HR 2562. This object, discovered with the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI), has a projected separation of 20.3 ± 0.3 au ($0\buildrel{\prime\prime}\over{.} 618\pm 0\buildrel{\prime\prime}\over{.} 004$) from the star. With the high astrometric precision afforded by GPI, we have confirmed, to more than 5σ, the common proper motion of HR 2562B with the star, with only a month-long time baseline between observations. Spectral data in the J-, H-, and K-bands show a morphological similarity to L/T transition objects. We assign a spectral type of L7 ± 3 to HR 2562B and derive a luminosity of log(L ${}_{\mathrm{bol}}$/${L}_{\odot })=-4.62\pm 0.12$, corresponding to a mass of 30 ± 15 ${M}_{\mathrm{Jup}}$ from evolutionary models at an estimated age of the system of 300–900 Myr. Although the uncertainty in the age of the host star is significant, the spectra and photometry exhibit several indications of youth for HR 2562B. The source has a position angle that is consistent with an orbit in the same plane as the debris disk recently resolved with Herschel. Additionally, it appears to be interior to the debris disk. Though the extent of the inner hole is currently too uncertain to place limits on the mass of HR 2562B, future observations of the disk with higher spatial resolution may be able to provide mass constraints. This is the first brown-dwarf-mass object found to reside in the inner hole of a debris disk, offering the opportunity to search for evidence of formation above the deuterium burning limit in a circumstellar disk.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2020

Planet-induced Vortices with Dust Coagulation in Protoplanetary Disks

In this work, we study how the dust coagulation/fragmentation will influence the evolution and observational appearances of vortices induced by a massive planet embedded in a low-viscosity disk by performing global 2D high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations. Within the vortex, due to its higher gas surface density and steeper pressure gradients, dust coagulation, fragmentation, and drift (to the vortex center) are all quite efficient, producing dust particles ranging from 1 μm to ~1.0 cm, as well as an overall high dust-to-gas ratio (above unity). In addition, the dust size distribution is quite nonuniform inside the vortex, with the mass-weighted average dust size at the vortex center (~4.0 mm) being a factor of ~10 larger than other vortex regions. Both large (~millimeter) and small (tens of microns) particles contribute strongly to affect the gas motion within the vortex. As such, we find that the inclusion of dust coagulation has a significant impact on the vortex lifetime and the typical vortex lifetime is about 1000 orbits. Furthermore, after the initial gaseous vortex is destroyed, the dust spreads into a ring with a few remaining smaller gaseous vortices with a high dust concentration and a large maximum size (~millimeter). At late time, the synthetic dust continuum images for the coagulation case show as a ring inlaid with several hot spots at the 1.33 mm band, while only distinct hot spots remain at 7.0 mm.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2021

Outward Migration of Super-Jupiters

We report recent simulations show that giant planets of about 1 M J migrate inward at a rate that differs from the type II prediction. Here we show that at higher masses, planets migrate outward. Our result differs from previous ones because of our longer simulation times, lower viscosity, and boundary conditions that allow the disk to reach a viscous steady state. We show that, for planets on circular orbits, the transition from inward to outward migration coincides with the known transition from circular to eccentric disks that occurs for planets more massive than a few Jupiters. In an eccentric disk, the torque on the outer disk weakens due to two effects: the planet launches weaker waves, and those waves travel further before damping. As a result, the torque on the inner disk dominates, and the planet pushes itself outward. Our results suggest that the many super-Jupiters observed by direct imaging at large distances from the star may have gotten there by outward migration.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

NASA NTRS2013

The 0.5-2.22 micrometer Scattered Light Spectrum of the Disk around TW Hya: Detection of a Partially Filled Disk Gap at 80 AU*

We present a 0.5-2.2 micrometer scattered light spectrum of the circumstellar disk around TW Hya from a combination of spatially resolved Hubble Space Telescope STIS spectroscopy and NICMOS coronagraphic images of the disk. We investigate the morphology of the disk at distances greater than 40 AU over this wide range of wavelengths, and identify the presence of a depression in surface brightness at approximately 80 AU that could be caused by a gap in the disk. Additionally, we quantify the surface brightness, azimuthal symmetry, and spectral character of the disk as a function of radius. Our analysis shows that the scattering efficiency of the dust is largely neutral to blue over the observed wavelengths. We model the disk as a steady α-disk with an ad hoc gap structure. The thermal properties of the disk are selfconsistently calculated using a three-dimensional radiative transfer code that uses ray tracing to model the heating of the disk interior and scattered light images. We find a good fit to the data over a wide range of distances from the star if we use a model disk with a partially filled gap of 30% depth at 80 AU and with a self-similar truncation knee at 100 AU. The origin of the gap is unclear, but it could arise from a transition in the nature of the disk's dust composition or the presence of a planetary companion. Based on scalings to previous hydrodynamic simulations of gap-opening criteria for embedded proto-planets, we estimate that a planetary companion forming the gap could have a mass between 6 and 28 solar mass.

radiative transfer↗

NASA NTRS2011

Emission Lines from the Gas Disk Around TW Hydra and the Origin of the Inner Hole

We compare line emission calculated from theoretical disk models with optical to submillimeter wavelength observational data of the gas disk surrounding TW Hya and infer the spatial distribution of mass in the gas disk. The model disk that best matches observations has a gas mass ranging from approx.10(exp −4) to 10(exp −5) M for 0.06AU < r < 3.5 AU and approx. 0.06M for 3.5AU < r < 200 AU. We find that the inner dust hole (r < 3.5 AU) in the disk must be depleted of gas by approx. 1-2 orders of magnitude compared with the extrapolated surface density distribution of the outer disk. Grain growth alone is therefore not a viable explanation for the dust hole. CO vibrational emission arises within r approx. 0.5 AU from thermal excitation of gas. [O i] 6300Å and 5577Å forbidden lines and OH mid-infrared emission are mainly due to prompt emission following UV photodissociation of OH and water at r < or approx. 0.1 AU and at r approx. 4 AU. [Ne ii] emission is consistent with an origin in X-ray heated neutral gas at r < or approx. 10 AU, and may not require the presence of a significant extreme-ultraviolet (hν > 13.6 eV) flux from TW Hya. H2 pure rotational line emission comes primarily from r approx. 1 to 30 AU. [Oi] 63microns, HCO+, and CO pure rotational lines all arise from the outer disk at r approx. 30-120 AU. We discuss planet formation and photoevaporation as causes for the decrease in surface density of gas and dust inside 4 AU. If a planet is present, our results suggest a planet mass approx. 4-7MJ situated at ∼3 AU. Using our photoevaporation models and the best surface density profile match to observations, we estimate a current photoevaporative mass loss rate of 4x10(exp −9M)/yr and a remaining disk lifetime of approx.5 million years.

Planet-Disk interactions↗