Protoplanetary disks dissipate rapidly after the central star forms, on time-scales comparable to those inferred for planet formation. In order to allow the formation of planets, disks must survive ...the dispersive effects of UV and X-ray photoevaporation for at least a few Myr. Viscous accretion depletes significant amounts of the mass in gas and solids, while photoevaporative flows driven by internal and external irradiation remove most of the gas. A reasonably large fraction of the mass in solids and some gas get incorporated into planets. Here, we review our current understanding of disk evolution and dispersal, and discuss how these might affect planet formation. We also discuss existing observational constraints on dispersal mechanisms and future directions.
Exocomets: A spectroscopic survey Rebollido, I.; Eiroa, C.; Montesinos, B. ...
Astronomy & astrophysics,
07/2020, Volume:
639
Journal Article, Web Resource
Peer reviewed
Open access
Context.
While exoplanets are now routinely detected, the detection of small bodies in extrasolar systems remains challenging. Since the discovery of sporadic events, which are interpreted to be ...exocomets (falling evaporating bodies) around
β
Pic in the early 1980s, only ∼20 stars have been reported to host exocomet-like events.
Aims.
We aim to expand the sample of known exocomet-host stars, as well as to monitor the hot-gas environment around stars with previously known exocometary activity.
Methods.
We have obtained high-resolution optical spectra of a heterogeneous sample of 117 main-sequence stars in the spectral type range from B8 to G8. The data were collected in 14 observing campaigns over the course of two years from both hemispheres. We analysed the Ca
II
K&H and Na
I
D lines in order to search for non-photospheric absorptions that originated in the circumstellar environment and for variable events that could be caused by the outgassing of exocomet-like bodies.
Results.
We detected non-photospheric absorptions towards 50% of the sample, thus attributing a circumstellar origin to half of the detections (i.e. 26% of the sample). Hot circumstellar gas was detected in the metallic lines inspected via narrow stable absorptions and/or variable blue- and red-shifted absorption events. Such variable events were found in 18 stars in the Ca
II
and/or Na
I
lines; six of them are reported in the context of this work for the first time. In some cases, the variations we report in the Ca
II
K line are similar to those observed in
β
Pic. While we do not find a significant trend in the age or location of the stars, we do find that the probability of finding CS gas in stars with larger
v
sin
i
is higher. We also find a weak trend with the presence of near-infrared excess and with anomalous (
λ
Boo-like) abundances, but this would require confirmation by expanding the sample.
Context. The molecular species hydrogen peroxide, HOOH, is likely to be a key ingredient in the oxygen and water chemistry in the interstellar medium. Aims. Our aim with this investigation is to ...determine how abundant HOOH is in the cloud core ρ Oph A. Methods. By observing several transitions of HOOH in the (sub)millimeter regime we seek to identify the molecule and also to determine the excitation conditions through a multilevel excitation analysis. Results. We have detected three spectral lines toward the SM1 position of ρ Oph A at velocity-corrected frequencies that coincide very closely with those measured from laboratory spectroscopy of HOOH. A fourth line was detected at the 4σ level. We also found through mapping observations that the HOOH emission extends (about 0.05 pc) over the densest part of the ρ Oph A cloud core. We derive an abundance of HOOH relative to that of H2 in the SM1 core of about 1 × 10-10. Conclusions. To our knowledge, this is the first reported detection of HOOH in the interstellar medium.
Ground based radial velocity (RV) searches continue to discover exoplanets below Neptune mass down to Earth mass. Furthermore, ground based transit searches now reach milli-mag photometric precision ...and can discover Neptune size planets around bright stars. These searches will find exoplanets around bright stars anywhere on the sky, their discoveries representing prime science targets for further study due to the proximity and brightness of their host stars. A mission for transit follow-up measurements of these prime targets is currently lacking. The first ESA S-class mission CHEOPS (CHaracterizing ExoPlanet Satellite) will fill this gap. It will perform ultra-high precision photometric monitoring of selected bright target stars almost anywhere on the sky with sufficient precision to detect Earth sized transits. It will be able to detect transits of RV-planets by photometric monitoring if the geometric configuration results in a transit. For Hot Neptunes discovered from the ground, CHEOPS will be able to improve the transit light curve so that the radius can be determined precisely. Because of the host stars' brightness, high precision RV measurements will be possible for all targets. All planets observed in transit by CHEOPS will be validated and their masses will be known. This will provide valuable data for constraining the mass-radius relation of exoplanets, especially in the Neptune-mass regime. During the planned 3.5 year mission, about 500 targets will be observed. There will be 20% of open time available for the community to develop new science programmes.
Context. Debris discs are a consequence of the planet formation process and constitute the fingerprints of planetesimal systems. Their counterparts in the solar system are the asteroid and ...Edgeworth-Kuiper belts. Aims. The aim of this paper is to provide robust numbers for the incidence of debris discs around FGK stars in the solar neighbourhood. Methods. The full sample of 177 FGK stars with d ≤ 20 pc proposed for the DUst around NEarby Stars (DUNES) survey is presented. Herschel/PACS observations at 100 and 160 μm were obtained, and were complemented in some cases with data at 70 μm and at 250, 350, and 500 μm SPIRE photometry. The 123 objects observed by the DUNES collaboration were presented in a previous paper. The remaining 54 stars, shared with the Disc Emission via a Bias-free Reconnaissance in IR and Sub-mm (DEBRIS) consortium and observed by them, and the combined full sample are studied in this paper. The incidence of debris discs per spectral type is analysed and put into context together with other parameters of the sample, like metallicity, rotation and activity, and age. Results. The subsample of 105 stars with d ≤ 15 pc containing 23 F, 33 G, and 49 K stars is complete for F stars, almost complete for G stars, and contains a substantial number of K stars from which we draw solid conclusions on objects of this spectral type. The incidence rates of debris discs per spectral type are 0.26+0.21-0.14 (6 objects with excesses out of 23 F stars), 0.21+0.17-0.11 (7 out of 33 G stars), and 0.200.14-0.09 (10 out of 49 K stars); the fraction for all three spectral types together is 0.22+0.08-0.07 (23 out of 105 stars). The uncertainties correspond to a 95% confidence level. The medians of the upper limits of Ldust/L∗ for each spectral type are 7.8 × 10-7 (F), 1.4 × 10-6 (G), and 2.2 × 10-6 (K); the lowest values are around 4.0 × 10-7. The incidence of debris discs is similar for active (young) and inactive (old) stars. The fractional luminosity tends to drop with increasing age, as expected from collisional erosion of the debris belts.
Context. The evolution of interstellar clouds of gas and dust establishes the prerequisites for star formation. The pathway to the formation of stars can be studied in regions that have formed stars, ...but which at the same time also display the earliest phases of stellar evolution, i.e. pre-collapse/collapsing cores (Class -1), protostars (Class 0), and young stellar objects (Class I, II, III). Aims. We investigate to what degree local physical and chemical conditions are related to the evolutionary status of various objects in star-forming media. Methods. ρ Oph A displays the entire sequence of low-mass star formation in a small volume of space. Using spectrophotometric line maps of H2, H2O, NH3, N2H+, O2, O I, CO, and CS, we examine the distribution of the atomic and molecular gas in this dense molecular core. The physical parameters of these species are derived, as are their relative abundances in ρ Oph A. Using radiative transfer models, we examine the infall status of the cold dense cores from their resolved line profiles of the ground state lines of H2O and NH3, where for the latter no contamination from the VLA 1623 outflow is observed and line overlap of the hyperfine components is explicitly taken into account. Results. The stratified structure of this photon dominated region (PDR), seen edge-on, is clearly displayed. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and O I are seen throughout the region around the exciting star S 1. At the interface to the molecular core 0.05 pc away, atomic hydrogen is rapidly converted into H2, whereas O I protrudes further into the molecular core. This provides oxygen atoms for the gas-phase formation of O2 in the core SM 1, where X(O2) ~ 5 × 10-8. There, the ratio of the O2 to H2O abundance X(H2O) ~ 5 × 10-9 is significantly higher than unity. Away from the core, O2 experiences a dramatic decrease due to increasing H2O formation. Outside the molecular core ρ Oph A, on the far side as seen from S 1, the intense radiation from the 0.5 pc distant early B-type star HD 147889 destroys the molecules. Conclusions. Towards the dark core SM 1, the observed abundance ratio X(O2)/X(H2O) > 1, which suggests that this object is extremely young, which would explain why O2 is such an elusive molecule outside the solar system.
Context. Debris discs have often been described as gas-poor discs as the gas-to-dust ratio is expected to be considerably lower than in primordial, protoplanetary discs. However, recent observations ...have confirmed the presence of a non-negligible amount of cold gas in the circumstellar (CS) debris discs around young main-sequence stars. This cold gas has been suggested to be related to the outgassing of planetesimals and cometary-like objects. Aims. The goal of this paper is to investigate the presence of hot gas in the immediate surroundings of the cold-gas-bearing debris-disc central stars. Methods. High-resolution optical spectra of all currently known cold-gas-bearing debris-disc systems, with the exception of β Pic and Fomalhaut, have been obtained from La Palma (Spain), La Silla (Chile), and La Luz (Mexico) observatories. To verify the presence of hot gas around the sample of stars, we have analysed the Ca II H&K and the Na I D lines searching for non-photospheric absorptions of CS origin, usually attributed to cometary-like activity. Results. Narrow, stable Ca II and/or Na I absorption features have been detected superimposed to the photospheric lines in 10 out of the 15 observed cold-gas-bearing debris-disc stars. Features are found at the radial velocity of the stars, or slightly blue- or red-shifted, and/or at the velocity of the local interstellar medium (ISM). Some stars also present transient variable events or absorptions extended towards red wavelengths (red wings). These are the first detections of such Ca II features in 7 out of the 15 observed stars. Although an ISM origin cannot categorically be excluded, the results suggest that the stable and variable absorptions arise from relatively hot gas located in the CS close-in environment of the stars. This hot gas is detected in at least ~80%, of edge-on cold-gas-bearing debris discs, while in only ~10% of the discs seen close to face-on. We interpret this result as a geometrical effect, and suggest that the non-detection of hot gas absorptions in some face-on systems is due to the disc inclination and likely not to the absence of the hot-gas component. This gas is likely released in physical processes related in some way to the evaporation of exocomets, evaporation of dust grains, or grain-grain collisions close to the central star.
Context. Formaldehyde is an organic molecule that is abundant in the interstellar medium. High deuterium fractionation is a common feature in low-mass star-forming regions. Observing several ...isotopologues of molecules is an excellent tool for understanding the formation paths of the molecules. Aims. We seek an understanding of how the various deuterated isotopologues of formaldehyde are formed in the dense regions of low-mass star formation. More specifically, we adress the question of how the very high deuteration levels (several orders of magnitude above the cosmic D/H ratio) can occur using H2CO data of the nearby ρ Oph A molecular cloud. Methods. From mapping observations of H2CO, HDCO, and D2CO, we have determined how the degree of deuterium fractionation changes over the central 3′ × 3′ region of ρ Oph A. The multi-transition data of the various H2CO isotopologues, as well as from other molecules (e.g., CH3OH and N2D + ) present in the observed bands, were analysed using both the standard type rotation diagram analysis and, in selected cases, a more elaborate method of solving the radiative transfer for optically thick emission. In addition to molecular column densities, the analysis also estimates the kinetic temperature and H2 density. Results. Toward the SM1 core in ρ Oph A, the H2CO deuterium fractionation is very high. In fact, the observed D2CO/HDCO ratio is 1.34 ± 0.19, while the HDCO/H2CO ratio is 0.107 ± 0.015. This is the first time, to our knowledge, that the D2CO/HDCO abundance ratio is observed to be greater than 1. The kinetic temperature is in the range 20−30 K in the cores of ρ Oph A, and the H2 density is (6−10) × 105 cm-3. We estimate that the total H2 column density toward the deuterium peak is (1−4) × 1023 cm-2. As depleted gas-phase chemistry is not adequate, we suggest that grain chemistry, possibly due to abstraction and exchange reactions along the reaction chain H2CO → HDCO → D2CO, is at work to produce the very high deuterium levels observed.
Context. The debris disk surrounding β Pictoris has been observed with ALMA to contain a belt of CO gas with a distinct peak at ~85 au. This CO clump is thought to be the result of a region of ...enhanced density of solids that collide and release CO through vaporisation. The parent bodies are thought to be comparable to solar system comets, in which CO is trapped inside a water ice matrix. Aims. Since H2O should be released along with CO, we aim to put an upper limit on the H2O gas mass in the disk of β Pictoris. Methods. We used archival data from the Heterodyne Instrument for the Far-Infrared (HIFI) aboard the Herschel Space Observatory to study the ortho-H2O 110–101 emission line. The line is undetected. Using a python implementation of the radiative transfer code RADEX, we converted upper limits on the line flux to H2O gas masses. The resulting lower limits on the CO/H2O mass ratio are compared to the composition of solar system comets. Results. Depending on the assumed gas spatial distribution, we find a 95% upper limit on the ortho-H2O line flux of 7.5 × 10−20 W m−2 or 1.2 × 10−19 W m−2. These translate into an upper limit on the H2O mass of 7.4 × 1016–1.1 × 1018 kg depending on both the electron density and gas kinetic temperature. The range of derived gas-phase CO/H2O ratios is marginally consistent with low-ratio solar system comets.
Search for HOOH in Orion Liseau, R.; Larsson, B.
Astronomy & astrophysics,
11/2015, Volume:
583
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Context. The abundance of key molecules determines the level of cooling that is necessary for the formation of stars and planetary systems. In this context, one needs to understand the details of the ...time dependent oxygen chemistry, leading to the formation of O2 and H2O. Aims. We aim to determine the degree of correlation between the occurrence of O2 and HOOH (hydrogen peroxide) in star-forming molecular clouds. We first detected O2 and HOOH in ρ Oph A, we now search for HOOH in Orion OMC A, where O2 has also been detected. Methods. We mapped a 3′×3′ region around Orion H2-Peak 1 with the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX). In addition to several maps in two transitions of HOOH, viz. 219.17 GHz and 251.91 GHz, we obtained single-point spectra for another three transitions towards the position of maximum emission. Results. Line emission at the appropriate LSR-velocity (Local Standard of Rest) and at the level of ≥4σ was found for two transitions, with lower signal-to-noise ratio (2.8−3.5σ) for another two transitions, whereas for the remaining transition, only an upper limit was obtained. The emitting region, offset 18′′ south of H2-Peak 1, appeared point-like in our observations with APEX. Conclusions. The extremely high spectral line density in Orion makes the identification of HOOH much more difficult than in ρ Oph A. As a result of having to consider the possible contamination by other molecules, we left the current detection status undecided.
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