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Register a new userThe stickiness of micrometer-sized water-ice particles
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Water ice is one of the most abundant materials in dense molecular clouds and in the outer reaches of protoplanetary disks. In contrast to other materials (e.g., silicates) water ice is assumed to be stickier due to its higher specific surface energy, leading to faster or more efficient growth in mutual collisions. However, experiments investigating the stickiness of water ice have been scarce, particularly in the astrophysically relevant micrometer-size region and at low temperatures. In this work, we present an experimental setup to grow aggregates composed of $mathrm{mu}$m-sized water-ice particles, which we used to measure the sticking and erosion thresholds of the ice particles at different temperatures between $114 , mathrm{K}$ and $260 , mathrm{K}$. We show with our experiments that for low temperatures (below $sim 210 , mathrm{K}$), $mathrm{mu}$m-sized water-ice particles stick below a threshold velocity of $9.6 , mathrm{m , s^{-1}}$, which is approximately ten times higher than the sticking threshold of $mathrm{mu}$m-sized silica particles. Furthermore, erosion of the grown ice aggregates is observed for velocities above $15.3 , mathrm{m , s^{-1}}$. A comparison of the experimentally derived sticking threshold with model predictions is performed to determine important material properties of water ice, i.e., the specific surface energy and the viscous relaxation time. Our experimental results indicate that the presence of water ice in the outer reaches of protoplanetary disks can enhance the growth of planetesimals by direct sticking of particles.
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Models and observations suggest that ice-particle aggregation at and beyond the snowline dominates the earliest stages of planet-formation, which therefore is subject to many laboratory studies. However, the pressure-temperature gradients in proto-planetary disks mean that the ices are constantly processed, undergoing phase changes between different solid phases and the gas phase. Open questions remain as to whether the properties of the icy particles themselves dictate collision outcomes and therefore how effectively collision experiments reproduce conditions in pro- toplanetary environments. Previous experiments often yielded apparently contradictory results on collision outcomes, only agreeing in a temperature dependence setting in above $approx$ 210 K. By exploiting the unique capabilities of the NIMROD neutron scattering instrument, we characterized the bulk and surface structure of icy particles used in collision experiments, and studied how these structures alter as a function of temperature at a constant pressure of around 30 mbar. Our icy grains, formed under liquid nitrogen, undergo changes in the crystalline ice-phase, sublimation, sintering and surface pre-melting as they are heated from 103 to 247 K. An increase in the thickness of the diffuse surface layer from $approx$ 10 to $approx$ 30 {AA} ($approx$ 2.5 to 12 bilayers) proves increased molecular mobility at temperatures above $approx$ 210 K. As none of the other changes tie-in with the temperature trends in collisional outcomes, we conclude that the surface pre-melting phenomenon plays a key role in collision experiments at these temperatures. Consequently, the pressure-temperature environment, may have a larger influence on collision outcomes than previously thought.
Coagulation models assume a higher sticking threshold for micrometer-sized ice particles than for micrometer-sized silicate particles. However, in contrast to silicates, laboratory investigations of the collision properties of micrometer-sized ice particles (in particular, of the most abundant water ice) have not been conducted yet. Thus, we used two different experimental methods to produce micrometer-sized water ice particles, i. e. by spraying water droplets into liquid nitrogen and by spraying water droplets into a cold nitrogen atmosphere. The mean particle radii of the ice particles produced with these experimental methods are $(1.49 pm 0.79) , mathrm{mu m}$ and $(1.45 pm 0.65) , mathrm{mu m}$. Ice aggregates composed of the micrometer-sized ice particles are highly porous (volume filling factor: $phi = 0.11 pm 0.01$) or rather compact (volume filling factor: $phi = 0.72 pm 0.04$), depending on the method of production. Furthermore, the critical rolling friction force of $F_{Roll,ice}=(114.8 pm 23.8) times 10^{-10}, mathrm{N}$ was measured for micrometer-sized ice particles, which exceeds the critical rolling friction force of micrometer-sized $mathrm{SiO_2}$ particles ($F_{Roll,SiO_2}=(12.1 pm 3.6) times 10^{-10}, mathrm{N}$). This result implies that the adhesive bonding between micrometer-sized ice particles is stronger than the bonding strength between $mathrm{SiO_2}$ particles. An estimation of the specific surface energy of micrometer-sized ice particles, derived from the measured critical rolling friction forces and the surface energy of micrometer-sized $mathrm{SiO_2}$ particles, results in $gamma_{ice} = 0.190 , mathrm{J , m^{-2}}$.
The connection between the nature of a protoplanetary disk and that of a debris disk is not well understood. Dust evolution, planet formation, and disk dissipation likely play a role in the processes involved. We aim to reconcile both manifestations of dusty circumstellar disks through a study of optically thin Class III disks and how they correlate to younger and older disks. In this work, we collect literature and ALMA archival millimeter fluxes for 85 disks (8%) of all Class III disks across nearby star-forming regions. We derive millimeter-dust masses $M_{text{dust}}$ and compare these with Class II and debris disk samples in the context of excess infrared luminosity, accretion rate, and age. The mean $M_{text{dust}}$ of Class III disks is $0.29 pm 0.19~M_{oplus}$. We propose a new evolutionary scenario wherein radial drift is very efficient for non-structured disks during the Class II phase resulting in a rapid decrease of $M_{text{dust}}$. However, we find long infrared protoplanetary disk timescales of ${sim}$8~Myr, which are consistent with overall slow disk evolution. In structured disks, the presence of dust traps allows for the formation of planetesimal belts at large radii, such as those observed in debris disks. We propose therefore that the planetesimal belts in debris disks are the result of dust traps in structured disks, whereas protoplanetary disks without dust traps decrease in dust mass through radial drift and are therefore undetectable as debris disks after the gas has dissipated. These results provide a hypothesis for a novel view of disk evolution.
Water ice is important for the evolution and preservation of life. Identifying the distribution of water ice in debris disks is therefore of great interest in the field of astrobiology. Furthermore, icy dust grains are expected to play important roles throughout the entire planet formation process. However, currently available observations only allow deriving weak conclusions about the existence of water ice in debris disks. We investigate whether it is feasible to detect water ice in typical debris disk systems. We take the following ice destruction mechanisms into account: sublimation of ice, dust production through planetesimal collisions, and photosputtering by UV-bright central stars. We consider icy dust mixture particles with various shapes consisting of amorphous ice, crystalline ice, astrosilicate, and vacuum inclusions. We calculated optical properties of inhomogeneous icy dust mixtures using effective medium theories, that is, Maxwell-Garnett rules. Subsequently, we generated synthetic debris disk observables, such as spectral energy distributions and spatially resolved thermal reemission and scattered light intensity and polarization maps with our code DMS. We find that the prominent $sim$ 3 $murm{m}$ and 44 $murm{m}$ water ice features can be potentially detected in future observations of debris disks with the James Webb Space Telescope and the Space Infrared telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics. We show that the sublimation of ice, collisions between planetesimals, and photosputtering caused by UV sources clearly affect the observational appearance of debris disk systems. In addition, highly porous ice tends to produce highly polarized radiation at around 3 $murm{m}$. Finally, the location of the ice survival line is determined by various dust properties such as a fractional ratio of ice versus dust, physical states of ice, and the porosity of icy grains.
We made near infrared multicolor imaging observations of a disk around Herbig Be star HD100546 using Gemini/NICI. K (2.2,$mu$m), H$_2$O ice (3.06,$mu$m), and L(3.8,$mu$m) disk images were obtained and we found the 3.1,$mu$m absorption feature in the scattered light spectrum, likely due to water ice grains at the disk surface. We compared the observed depth of the ice absorption feature with the disk model based on cite{Oka2012} including water ice photodesorption effect by stellar UV photons. The observed absorption depth can be explained by the both disk models with/without photodesorption effect within the measurement accuracy, but slightly favors the model with photodesorption effects, implying that the UV photons play an important role on the survival/destruction of ice grains at the Herbig Ae/Be disk surface. Further improvement on the accuracy of the observations of the water ice absorption depth is needed to constrain the disk models.
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