Abstract
Here we present high-resolution (15–24 au) observations of CO isotopologue lines from the Molecules with ALMA on Planet-forming Scales (MAPS) ALMA Large Program. Our analysis employs ...observations of the (
J
= 2–1) and (1–0) lines of
13
CO and C
18
O and the (
J
= 1–0) line of C
17
O for five protoplanetary disks. We retrieve CO gas density distributions, using three independent methods: (1) a thermochemical modeling framework based on the CO data, the broadband spectral energy distribution, and the millimeter continuum emission; (2) an empirical temperature distribution based on optically thick CO lines; and (3) a direct fit to the C
17
O hyperfine lines. Results from these methods generally show excellent agreement. The CO gas column density profiles of the five disks show significant variations in the absolute value and the radial shape. Assuming a gas-to-dust mass ratio of 100, all five disks have a global CO-to-H
2
abundance 10–100 times lower than the interstellar medium ratio. The CO gas distributions between 150 and 400 au match well with models of viscous disks, supporting the long-standing theory. CO gas gaps appear to be correlated with continuum gap locations, but some deep continuum gaps do not have corresponding CO gaps. The relative depths of CO and dust gaps are generally consistent with predictions of planet–disk interactions, but some CO gaps are 5–10 times shallower than predictions based on dust gaps. This paper is part of the MAPS special issue of the Astrophysical Journal Supplement.
Snowlines of major volatiles regulate the gas and solid C/N/O ratios in the planet-forming midplanes of protoplanetary disks. Snow surfaces are the 2D extensions of snowlines in the outer disk ...regions, where radiative heating results in an increasing temperature with disk height. CO and N2 are two of the most abundant carriers of C, N, and O. N2H+ can be used to probe the snow surfaces of both molecules, because it is destroyed by CO and formed from N2. Here we present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of N2H+ at ∼0 2-0 4 resolution in the disks around LkCa 15, GM Aur, DM Tau, V4046 Sgr, AS 209, and IM Lup. We find two distinctive emission morphologies: N2H+ is either present in a bright, narrow ring surrounded by extended tenuous emission, or in a broad ring. These emission patterns can be explained by two different kinds of vertical temperature structures. Bright, narrow N2H+ rings are expected in disks with a thick Vertically Isothermal Region above the Midplane (VIRaM) layer (LkCa 15, GM Aur, DM Tau) where the N2H+ emission peaks between the CO and N2 snowlines. Broad N2H+ rings come from disks with a thin VIRaM layer (V4046 Sgr, AS 209, IM Lup). We use a simple model to extract the first sets of CO and N2 snowline pairs and corresponding freeze-out temperatures toward the disks with a thick VIRaM layer. The results reveal a range of N2 and CO snowline radii toward stars of similar spectral type, demonstrating the need for empirically determined snowlines in disks.
ABSTRACT We examine changes in the molecular abundances resulting from increased heating due to a self-luminous planetary companion embedded within a narrow circumstellar disk gap. Using 3D models ...that include stellar and planetary irradiation, we find that luminous young planets locally heat up the parent circumstellar disk by many tens of Kelvin, resulting in efficient thermal desorption of molecular species that are otherwise locally frozen out. Furthermore, the heating is deposited over large regions of the disk, 5 AU radially and spanning azimuthally. From the 3D chemical models, we compute rotational line emission models and full Atacama Large Millimeter Array simulations, and find that the chemical signatures of the young planet are detectable as chemical asymmetries in observations. HCN and its isotopologues are particularly clear tracers of planetary heating for the models considered here, and emission from multiple transitions of the same species is detectable, which encodes temperature information in addition to possible velocity information from the spectra itself. We find submillimeter molecular emission will be a useful tool to study gas giant planet formation in situ, especially beyond AU.
Water is a crucial molecule in molecular astrophysics as it controls much of the gas/grain chemistry, including the formation and evolution of more complex organic molecules in ices. Pre-stellar ...cores provide the original reservoir of material from which future planetary systems are built, but few observational constraints exist on the formation of water and its partitioning between gas and ice in the densest cores. Thanks to the high sensitivity of the Herschel Space Observatory, we report on the first detection of water vapor at high spectral resolution toward a dense cloud on the verge of star formation, the pre-stellar core L1544. The line shows an inverse P-Cygni profile, characteristic of gravitational contraction. To reproduce the observations, water vapor has to be present in the cold and dense central few thousand AU of L1544, where species heavier than helium are expected to freeze out onto dust grains, and the ortho:para H sub(2) ratio has to be around 1:1 or larger. The observed amount of water vapor within the core (about 1.5 x 10 super(-6) M sub(middot in circle)) can be maintained by far-UV photons locally produced by the impact of galactic cosmic rays with H sub(2) molecules. Such FUV photons irradiate the icy mantles, liberating water vapor in the core center. Our Herschel data, combined with radiative transfer and chemical/dynamical models, shed light on the interplay between gas and solids in dense interstellar clouds and provide the first measurement of the water vapor abundance profile across the parent cloud of a future solar-type star and its potential planetary system.
Recent astronomical observations have revealed what may prove to be the ubiquity of water vapor during the early stages of planet formation. We present here a simple mechanism showing how water vapor ...forms in situ and is capable of shielding itself from molecule-destroying stellar radiation. The absorption of this radiation by water can control the thermodynamics of the terrestrial planet–forming zone. Similar to Earth's ozone layer, which shelters the chemistry of life, the water layer protects other water molecules and allows for a rich organic chemistry. The total abundance of water vapor in the natal habitable zone is equal to that of several thousand oceans.
Abstract
Infrared observations probe the warm gas in the inner regions of planet-forming disks around young Sun-like T Tauri stars. In these systems, H
2
O, OH, CO, CO
2
, C
2
H
2
, and HCN have been ...widely observed. However, the potentially abundant carbon carrier CH
4
remains largely unconstrained. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be able to characterize mid-infrared fluxes of CH
4
along with several other carriers of carbon and oxygen. In anticipation of the JWST mission, we model the physical and chemical structure of a T Tauri disk to predict the abundances and mid-infrared fluxes of observable molecules. A range of compositional scenarios are explored involving the destruction of refractory carbon materials and alterations to the total elemental (volatile and refractory) C/O ratio. Photon-driven chemistry in the inner disk surface layers largely destroys the initial carbon and oxygen carriers. This causes models with the same physical structure and C/O ratio to have similar steady-state surface compositions, regardless of the initial chemical abundances. Initial disk compositions are better preserved in the shielded inner disk midplane. The degree of similarity between the surface and midplane compositions in the inner disk will depend on the characteristics of vertical mixing at these radii. Our modeled fluxes of observable molecules respond sensitively to changes in the disk gas temperature, inner radius, and total elemental C/O ratio. As a result, mid-infrared observations of disks will be useful probes of these fundamental disk parameters, including the C/O ratio, which can be compared to values determined for planetary atmospheres.
Low-mass protostars have been suggested to show highly variable accretion rates throughout their evolution. Such changes in accretion, and related heating of their ambient envelopes, may trigger ...significant chemical variations on different spatial scales and from source-to-source. We present images of emission from C super(17)O, H super(13)CO+, CH sub(3)OH, C super(34)S and C sub(2)H toward the low-mass protostar IRAS 15398-3359 on 0".5 (75 AU diameter) scales with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array at 340 GHz. The resolved images show that the emission from H super(13)CO+ is only present in a ring-like structure with a radius of about 1-1".5 (150-200 AU) whereas the CO and other high dipole moment molecules are centrally condensed toward the location of the central protostar. We propose that HCO+ is destroyed by water vapor present on small scales. The origin of this water vapor is likely an accretion burst during the last 100-1000 yr increasing the luminosity of IRAS 15398-3359 by a factor of 100 above its current luminosity. Such a burst in luminosity can also explain the centrally condensed CH sub(3)OH and extended warm carbon-chain chemistry observed in this source and furthermore be reflected in the relative faintness of its compact continuum emission compared to other protostars.
Abstract
Planets form and obtain their compositions in dust- and gas-rich disks around young stars, and the outcome of this process is intimately linked to the disk chemical properties. The ...distributions of molecules across disks regulate the elemental compositions of planets, including C/N/O/S ratios and metallicity (O/H and C/H), as well as access to water and prebiotically relevant organics. Emission from molecules also encodes information on disk ionization levels, temperature structures, kinematics, and gas surface densities, which are all key ingredients of disk evolution and planet formation models. The Molecules with ALMA at Planet-forming Scales (MAPS) ALMA Large Program was designed to expand our understanding of the chemistry of planet formation by exploring disk chemical structures down to 10 au scales. The MAPS program focuses on five disks—around IM Lup, GM Aur, AS 209, HD 163296, and MWC 480—in which dust substructures are detected and planet formation appears to be ongoing. We observed these disks in four spectral setups, which together cover ∼50 lines from over 20 different species. This paper introduces the Astrophysical Journal Supplement’s MAPS Special Issue by presenting an overview of the program motivation, disk sample, observational details, and calibration strategy. We also highlight key results, including discoveries of links between dust, gas, and chemical substructures, large reservoirs of nitriles and other organics in the inner disk regions, and elevated C/O ratios across most disks. We discuss how this collection of results is reshaping our view of the chemistry of planet formation.
A sensitive broadband molecular line survey of the Sagittarius B2(N) star-forming region has been obtained with the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared (HIFI) instrument on the Herschel Space ...Observatory, offering the first high spectral resolution look at this well-studied source in a wavelength region largely inaccessible from the ground (625-157 mu m). We present a local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) model to the spectral signatures of each molecule, constraining the source sizes for hot core species with complementary Submillimeter Array interferometric observations and assuming that molecules with related functional group composition are cospatial. Notably, we find significantly higher abundances of amine- and amide-bearing molecules (CH sub(3)NH sub(2), CH sub(2)NH, and NH sub(2)CHO) toward Sgr B2(N) than Orion KL and lower abundances of some complex oxygen-bearing molecules (CH sub(3)OCHO in particular). The reduced HIFI spectral scan and LTE model are made available to the public as a resource for future investigations of star-forming regions in the submillimeter and far-infrared.
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