Possible planet-forming regions on submillimetre images

By Z. Regály, A. Juhász, Zsolt Sándor, C. Dullemond. 2011

136 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Submillimetre images of transition discs are expected to reflect the distribution of the optically thin dust. Former observation of three transition discs LkHa330, SR21N, and HD1353444B at submillimetre wavelengths revealed images which cannot be modelled by a simple axisymmetric disc. We show that a large-scale anticyclonic vortex that develops where the viscosity has a large gradient (e.g., at the edge of the disc dead zone), might be accountable for these large-scale asymmetries. We modelled the long-term evolution of vortices being triggered by the Rossby wave instability. We found that a horseshoe-shaped (azimuthal wavenumber m=1) large-scale vortex forms by coalescing of smaller vortices within 5x10^4 yr, and can survive on the disc life-time (~5x10^6 yr), depending on the magnitude of global viscosity and the thickness of the viscosity gradient. The two-dimensional grid-based global disc simulations with local isothermal approximation and compressible-gas model have been done by the GPU version of hydrodynamic code FARGO (GFARGO). To calculate the dust continuum image at submillimetre wavelengths, we combined our hydrodynamical results with a 3D radiative transfer code. By the striking similarities of the calculated and observed submillimetre images, we suggest that the three transition discs can be modelled by a disc possessing a large-scale vortex formed near the disc dead zone edge. Since the larger dust grains (larger than mm in size) are collected in these vortices, the non-axisymmetric submillimetre images of the above transition discs might be interpreted as active planet and planetesimal forming regions situated far (> 50 AU) from the central stars.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/809acfcdc1514a5607c99af725c06f4e67a951fd

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Citations in the corpus

• ALMA unveils rings and gaps in the protoplanetary system HD 169142: signatures of two giant protoplanets (2017, background): “An alternative scenario that could also explain the surface density profile of HD 169142 is the case of magneto-rotational (MRI) instability creating dead-zones (e.g., Regály et al. 2012; Flock et al. 2015; Hasegawa & Takeuchi 2015).”
• LARGE-SCALE ASYMMETRIES IN THE TRANSITIONAL DISKS OF SAO 206462 AND SR 21 (2014, unknown): “2009), and theoretical studies suggest that asymmetries in disk emission may arise for vortices (e.g., Regály et al. 2012).”
• STRUCTURES IN THE PROTOPLANETARY DISK OF HD142527 SEEN IN POLARIZED SCATTERED LIGHT (2013, background): “The enhancement is also at the apocenter rather than the pericenter of the disk and can be much better explained by a vortex, which leads to a dust concentration at the azimuthal pressure maximum and facilitates grain growth and thus planet formation (Regály et al. 2012; Ataiee et al. 2013).”
• Gaps, Rings, and Non-Axisymmetric Structures in Protoplanetary Disks - From Simulations to ALMA Observations (2014, background): “Another possibility was presented by Varnière & Tagger (2006), Lyra et al. (2009a), Regály et al. (2012), and Faure et al. (2014): the surface density enhancement and following vortex formation was generated by the increase of accretion stress in the outer disk caused by the…”
• Resolved gas cavities in transitional disks inferred from CO isotopologs with ALMA (2015, background): “Other mechanisms that could cause a dust cavity or dust ring are photoevaporation (Clarke et al. 2001) and instabilities at the edges of dead zones (e.g., Regály et al. 2012).”
• Gas density drops inside dust cavities of transitional disks around young stars observed with ALMA (2015, background): “Also, instabilities at the edges of dea zones have been involved to millimeter-dust rings and asymmetries (e.g. Regály et al. 2012).”
• Dust Evolution and the Formation of Planetesimals (2016, background): “The cause of such a pressure bump could be either a planet embedded in the disk, or variations in the viscosity profile (e.g., Kretke & Lin 2007; Regály et al. 2012).”