Abstract
Chemical compositions of giant planets provide a means to constrain how and where they form. Traditionally, super-stellar elemental abundances in giant planets were thought to be possible ...due to accretion of metal-rich solids. Such enrichments are accompanied by oxygen-rich compositions (i.e. C/O below the disc's value, assumed to be solar, C/O = 0.54). Without solid accretion, the planets are expected to have sub-solar metallicity, but high C/O ratios. This arises because the solids are dominated by oxygen-rich species, e.g. H2O and CO2, which freeze out in the disc earlier than CO, leaving the gas metal poor but carbon rich. Here we demonstrate that super-solar metallicities can be achieved by gas accretion alone when growth and radial drift of pebbles are considered in protoplanetary discs. Through this mechanism, planets may simultaneously acquire super-solar metallicities and super-solar C/O ratios. This happens because the pebbles transport volatile species inwards as they migrate through the disc, enriching the gas at snow lines where the volatiles sublimate. Furthermore, the planet's composition can be used to constrain where it formed. Since high C/H and C/O ratios cannot be created by accreting solids, it may be possible to distinguish between formation via pebble accretion and planetesimal accretion by the level of solid enrichment. Finally, we expect that Jupiter's C/O ratio should be near or above solar if its enhanced carbon abundance came through accreting metal-rich gas. Thus, Juno's measurement of Jupiter's C/O ratio should determine whether Jupiter accreted its metals from carbon-rich gas or oxygen-rich solids.
We investigate the minimum planet mass that produces observable signatures in infrared scattered light and submillimetre (submm) continuum images and demonstrate how these images can be used to ...measure planet masses to within a factor of about 2. To this end, we perform multi-fluid gas and dust simulations of discs containing low-mass planets, generating simulated observations at 1.65, 10 and 850 μm. We show that the minimum planet mass that produces a detectable signature is ∼15 M⊕: this value is strongly dependent on disc temperature and changes slightly with wavelength (favouring the submm). We also confirm previous results that there is a minimum planet mass of ∼20 M⊕ that produces a pressure maximum in the disc: only planets above this threshold mass generate a dust trap that can eventually create a hole in the submm dust. Below this mass, planets produce annular enhancements in dust outwards of the planet and a reduction in the vicinity of the planet. These features are in steady state and can be understood in terms of variations in the dust radial velocity, imposed by the perturbed gas pressure radial profile, analogous to a traffic jam. We also show how planet masses can be derived from structure in scattered light and submm images. We emphasize that simulations with dust need to be run over thousands of planetary orbits so as to allow the gas profile to achieve a steady state and caution against the estimation of planet masses using gas-only simulations.
ABSTRACT
Protoplanetary discs form and evolve in a wide variety of stellar environments and are accordingly exposed to a wide range of ambient far-ultraviolet (FUV) field strengths. Strong FUV fields ...are known to drive vigorous gaseous flows from the outer disc. In this paper we conduct the first systematic exploration of the evolution of the solid component of discs subject to external photoevaporation. We find that the main effect of photoevaporation is to reduce the reservoir of dust at large radii and this leads to more efficient subsequent depletion of the disc dust due to radial drift. Efficient radial drift means that photoevaporation causes no significant increase of the dust-to-gas ratio in the disc. We show that the disc lifetime in both dust and gas is strongly dependent on the level of the FUV background and that the relationship between these two lifetimes just depends on the Shakura–Sunyaev α parameter, with the similar lifetimes observed for gas and dust in discs pointing to higher α values (∼10−2). On the other hand, the distribution of observed discs in the plane of disc size versus flux at 850 μm is better reproduced by lower α (∼10−3). We find that photoevaporation does not assist rocky planet formation but need not inhibit mechanisms (such as pebble accretion at the water snow line) which can be effective sufficiently early in the disc’s lifetime (i.e. well within a Myr).
ABSTRACT
A necessary first step for dust removal in protoplanetary disc winds is the delivery of dust from the disc to the wind. In the case of ionized winds, the disc and wind are sharply delineated ...by a narrow ionization front where the gas density and temperature vary by more than an order of magnitude. Using a novel method that is able to model the transport of dust across the ionization front in the presence of disc turbulence, we revisit the problem of dust delivery. Our results show that the delivery of dust to the wind is determined by the vertical gas flow through the disc induced by the mass-loss, rather than turbulent diffusion (unless the turbulence is strong, i.e. α ≳ 0.01). Using these results, we provide a simple relation between the maximum size of particle that can be delivered to the wind and the local mass-loss rate per unit area from the wind. This relation is independent of the physical origin of the wind and predicts typical sizes in the 0.01–$1\, \rm{\mu m}$ range for extreme-ultraviolet- or X-ray-driven winds. These values are a factor of ∼10 smaller than those obtained when considering only whether the wind is able to carry away the grains.
ABSTRACT
The DSHARP survey evidenced the ubiquity of substructure in the mm dust distribution of large, bright protoplanetary discs. Intriguingly, these data sets have yet higher resolution ...information that is not recovered in a CLEAN image. We first show that the intrinsic performance of the CLEAN algorithm is resolution-limited. Then analysing all 20 DSHARP sources using the 1D, super-resolution code FRANKenstein (FRANK), we accurately fit the 1D visibilities to a mean factor of 4.3 longer baseline than the Fourier transform of the CLEAN images and a factor of 3.0 longer baseline than the transform of the CLEAN component models. This yields a higher resolution brightness profile for each source, identifying new substructure interior to 30 au in multiple discs; resolving known gaps to be deeper, wider, and more structured; and known rings to be narrower and brighter. Across the survey, high contrast gaps are an average $14{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ wider and $44{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ deeper in the FRANK profiles relative to CLEAN, and high contrast rings are an average $26{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ narrower. Categorizing the FRANK brightness profiles into trends, we find that the relative scarcity of features interior to 30 au in the survey’s CLEAN images is an artefact of resolving power, rather than an intrinsic rarity of inner disc (or compact disc) substructure. Finally the rings in the FRANK profiles are narrower than the previously inferred deconvolved widths, indicating smaller α/St ratios in the local gas disc.
We present high-resolution ALMA Band 6 and 7 observations of the tidally disrupted protoplanetary disks of the RW Aurigae binary. Our observations reveal tidal streams in addition to the previously ...observed tidal arm around RW Aur A. The observed configuration of tidal streams surrounding RW Aur A and B is incompatible with a single star-disk tidal encounter, suggesting that the RW Aurigae system has undergone multiple flyby interactions. We also resolve the circumstellar disks around RW Aur A and B, with CO radii of 58 au and 38 au consistent with tidal truncation, and 2.5 times smaller dust emission radii. The disks appear misaligned by 12° or 57°. Using new photometric observations from the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) and the All Sky Automated Survey for SuperNovae (ASAS-SN) archives, we have also identified an additional dimming event of the primary that began in late 2017 and is currently ongoing. With over a century of photometric observations, we are beginning to explore the same spatial scales as ALMA.
ABSTRACT
When imaged at high resolution, many protoplanetary discs show gaps and rings in their dust sub-mm continuum emission profile. These structures are widely considered to originate from local ...maxima in the gas pressure profile. The properties of the underlying gas structures are however unknown. In this paper, we present a method to measure the dust–gas coupling α/St and the width of the gas pressure bumps affecting the dust distribution, applying high-precision techniques to extract the gas rotation curve from emission line data cubes. As a proof of concept, we then apply the method to two discs with prominent substructure, HD 163296 and AS 209. We find that in all cases the gas structures are larger than in the dust, confirming that the rings are pressure traps. Although the grains are sufficiently decoupled from the gas to be radially concentrated, we find that the degree of coupling of the dust is relatively good (α/St ∼ 0.1). We can therefore reject scenarios in which the disc turbulence is very low and the dust has grown significantly. If we further assume that the dust grain sizes are set by turbulent fragmentation, we find high values of the α turbulent parameter (α ∼ 10−2). Alternatively, solutions with smaller turbulence are still compatible with our analysis if another process is limiting grain growth. For HD 163296, recent measurements of the disc mass suggest that this is the case if the grain size is 1 mm. Future constraints on the dust spectral indices will help to discriminate between the two alternatives.
ABSTRACT
Recent observations have uncovered a correlation between the accretion rates (measured from the UV continuum excess) of protoplanetary discs and their masses inferred from observations of ...the submm continuum. While viscous evolution models predict such a correlation, the predicted values are in tension with data obtained from the Lupus and Upper Scorpius star-forming regions; for example, they underpredict the scatter in accretion rates, particularly in older regions. Here, we argue that since the submm observations trace the discs’ dust, by explicitly modelling the dust grain growth, evolution, and emission, we can better understand the correlation. We show that for turbulent viscosities with α ≲ 10−3, the depletion of dust from the disc due to radial drift means we can reproduce the range of masses and accretion rates seen in the Lupus and Upper Sco data sets. One consequence of this model is that the upper locus of accretion rates at a given dust mass does not evolve with the age of the region. Moreover, we find that internal photoevaporation is necessary to produce the lowest accretion rates observed. In order to replicate the correct dust masses at the time of disc dispersal, we favour relatively low photoevaporation rates ≲ 10−9 M⊙ yr−1 for most sources but cannot discriminate between EUV or X-ray-driven winds. A limited number of sources, particularly in Lupus, are shown to have higher masses than predicted by our models which may be evidence for variations in the properties of the dust or dust trapping induced in substructures.
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