Ring structure in the MWC 480 disk revealed by ALMA

Yao Liu, Giovanni Dipierro, Enrico Ragusa, Giuseppe Lodato, Gregory J. Herczeg, Feng Long, Daniel Harsono, Yann Boehler, Francois Menard, Doug Johnstone, Ilaria Pascucci, Paola Pinilla, Colette Salyk, Gerrit Van Der Plas, Sylvie Cabrit, William J. Fischer, Nathan Hendler, Carlo F. Manara, Brunella Nisini, Elisabetta RigliacoHenning Avenhaus, Andrea Banzatti, Michael Gully-Santiago

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43 Scopus citations

Abstract

Gap-like structures in protoplanetary disks are likely related to planet formation processes. In this paper, we present and analyze high-resolution (0.17′′× 0.11′′) 1.3 mm ALMA continuum observations of the protoplanetary disk around the Herbig Ae star MWC 480. Our observations show for the first time a gap centered at 74 au with a width of 23 au, surrounded by a bright ring centered at 98 au from the central star. Detailed radiative transfer modeling of the ALMA image and the broadband spectral energy distribution is used to constrain the surface density profile and structural parameters of the disk. If the width of the gap corresponds to 4-8 times the Hill radius of a single forming planet, then the putative planet would have a mass of 0.4-3 M J . We test this prediction by performing global three-dimensional smoothed particle hydrodynamic gas/dust simulations of disks hosting a migrating and accreting planet. We find that the dust emission across the disk is consistent with the presence of an embedded planet with a mass of 2.3 M J at an orbital radius of 78 au. Given the surface density of the best-fit radiative transfer model, the amount of depleted mass in the gap is higher than the mass of the putative planet, which satisfies the basic condition for the formation of such a planet.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numberA75
JournalAstronomy and astrophysics
Volume622
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 1 2019

Keywords

  • Protoplanetary disks
  • planet-disk interactions
  • radiative transfer
  • stars: formation
  • stars: individual: MWC 480

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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  • MWC 480 ALMA image

    Liu, Y. (Creator), Dipierro, G. (Creator), Ragusa, E. (Creator), Lodato, G. (Creator), Herczeg, G. J. (Creator), Long, F. (Creator), Harsono, D. (Creator), Boehler, Y. (Creator), Menard, F. (Creator), Johnstone, D. (Creator), Pascucci, I. (Creator), Pinilla, P. (Creator), Salyk, C. (Creator), Van Der Plas, G. (Creator), Cabrit, S. (Creator), Fischer, W. J. (Creator), Hendler, N. (Creator), Manara, C. F. (Creator), Nisini, B. (Creator), Rigliaco, E. (Creator), Avenhaus, H. (Creator), Banzatti, A. (Creator) & Gully-Santiago, M. (Creator), Centre de Donnees Strasbourg (CDS), 2019

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