No Arabic abstract
We present GPI polarized intensity imagery of HD 100453 in Y-, J-, and K1 bands which reveals an inner gap ($9 - 18$ au), an outer disk ($18-39$ au) with two prominent spiral arms, and two azimuthally-localized dark features also present in SPHERE total intensity images (Wagner 2015). SED fitting further suggests the radial gap extends to $1$ au. The narrow, wedge-like shape of the dark features appears similar to predictions of shadows cast by a inner disk which is misaligned with respect to the outer disk. Using the Monte Carlo radiative transfer code HOCHUNCK3D (Whitney 2013), we construct a model of the disk which allows us to determine its physical properties in more detail. From the angular separation of the features we measure the difference in inclination between the disks 45$^{circ}$, and their major axes, PA = 140$^{circ}$ east of north for the outer disk and 100$^{circ}$for the inner disk. We find an outer disk inclination of $25 pm 10^{circ}$ from face-on in broad agreement with the Wagner 2015 measurement of 34$^{circ}$. SPHERE data in J- and H-bands indicate a reddish disk which points to HD 100453 evolving into a young debris disk.
Understanding the diversity of planets requires to study the morphology and the physical conditions in the protoplanetary disks in which they form. We observed and spatially resolved the disk around the ~10 Myr old protoplanetary disk HD 100453 in polarized scattered light with SPHERE/VLT at optical and near-infrared wavelengths, reaching an angular resolution of ~0.02, and an inner working angle of ~0.09. We detect polarized scattered light up to ~0.42 (~48 au) and detect a cavity, a rim with azimuthal brightness variations at an inclination of 38 degrees, two shadows and two symmetric spiral arms. The spiral arms originate near the location of the shadows, close to the semi major axis. We detect a faint spiral-like feature in the SW that can be interpreted as the scattering surface of the bottom side of the disk, if the disk is tidally truncated by the M-dwarf companion currently seen at a projected distance of ~119 au. We construct a radiative transfer model that accounts for the main characteristics of the features with an inner and outer disk misaligned by ~72 degrees. The azimuthal brightness variations along the rim are well reproduced with the scattering phase function of the model. While spirals can be triggered by the tidal interaction with the companion, the close proximity of the spirals to the shadows suggests that the shadows could also play a role. The change in stellar illumination along the rim, induces an azimuthal variation of the scale height that can contribute to the brightness variations. Dark regions in polarized images of transition disks are now detected in a handful of disks and often interpreted as shadows due to a misaligned inner disk. The origin of such a misalignment in HD 100453, and of the spirals, is unclear, and might be due to a yet-undetected massive companion inside the cavity, and on an inclined orbit.
In recent years, several protoplanetary discs have been observed to exhibit spirals, both in scattered light and (sub)millimetre continuum data. The HD 100453 binary star system hosts such a disc around its primary. Previous work has argued that the spirals were caused by the gravitational interaction of the secondary, which was assumed to be on a circular orbit, coplanar with the disc (meaning here the large outer disc, as opposed to the very small inner disc). However, recent observations of the CO gas emission were found incompatible with this assumption. In this paper, we run SPH simulations of the gas and dust disc for seven orbital configurations taken from astrometric fits and compute synthetic observations from their results. Comparing to high-resolution ALMA $^{12}$CO data, we find that the best agreement is obtained for an orbit with eccentricity $e=0.32$ and semi-major axis $a=207$ au, inclined by $61^circ$ relative to the disc plane. The large misalignment between the disc and orbit planes is compatible with the tidal evolution of a circumprimary disc in an eccentric, unequal-mass binary star.
The protoplanetary disc HD 100453 exhibits a curious combination of spirals, shadows and a relative misalignment between the observed outer disc and inferred inner disc. This disc is accompanied by a secondary star on a bound orbit exterior to the disc. Recent observations have suggested there may be an additional low-mass companion residing within the disc inner cavity. In our companion paper the orbit of the secondary was shown to be misaligned by 61 degrees to the plane of the outer disc. Here we investigate the properties of the inner companion and the origin of the misalignment between the inner and outer disc. Using numerical simulations and synthetic observations, we show that the disc structure and kinematics are consistent with a $lesssim$ 5 Jupiter mass planet located at 15-20au. We find that the disc evolution over around 50 binary orbits (about 10$^5$ yrs) is governed by differential precession and to a lesser extent, the Kozai-Lidov effect. In our proposed model the misalignment observed between the outer and inner disc arises naturally as a result of the misaligned outer companion driving the outer disc to precess more rapidly than the inner disc.
The protoplanetary disk around the F-type star HD 135344B (SAO 206462) is in a transition stage and shows many intriguing structures both in scattered light and thermal (sub-)millimeter emission which are possibly related to planet formation processes. We study the morphology and surface brightness of the disk in scattered light to gain insight into the innermost disk regions, the formation of protoplanets, planet-disk interactions traced in the surface and midplane layers, and the dust grain properties of the disk surface. We have carried out high-contrast polarimetric differential imaging (PDI) observations with VLT/SPHERE and obtained polarized scattered light images with ZIMPOL in R- and I-band and with IRDIS in Y- and J-band. The scattered light images reveal with unprecedented angular resolution and sensitivity the spiral arms as well as the 25 au cavity of the disk. Multiple shadow features are discovered on the outer disk with one shadow only being present during the second observation epoch. A positive surface brightness gradient is observed in the stellar irradiation corrected images in southwest direction possibly due to an azimuthally asymmetric perturbation of the temperature and/or surface density by the passing spiral arms. The disk integrated polarized flux, normalized to the stellar flux, shows a positive trend towards longer wavelengths which we attribute to large aggregate dust grains in the disk surface. Part of the the non-azimuthal polarization signal in the Uphi image of the J-band observation could be the result of multiple scattering in the disk. The detected shadow features and their possible variability have the potential to provide insight into the structure of and processes occurring in the innermost disk regions.
While planet formation is thought to occur early in the history of a protoplanetary disk, the presence of planets embedded in disks, or of other processes driving disk evolution, might be traced from their imprints on the disk structure. We observed the T Tauri star HD 143006, located in the 5-11 Myr-old Upper Sco region, in polarized scattered light with VLT/SPHERE at near-infrared wavelengths, reaching an angular resolution of ~0.037 (~6 au). We obtained two datasets, one with a 145 mas diameter coronagraph, and the other without, enabling us to probe the disk structure down to an angular separation of ~0.06 (~10 au). In our observations, the disk of HD 143006 is clearly resolved up to ~0.5 and shows a clear large-scale asymmetry with the eastern side brighter than the western side. We detect a number of additional features, including two gaps and a ring. The ring shows an overbrightness at a position angle (PA) of ~140 deg, extending over a range in position angle of ~60 deg, and two narrow dark regions. The two narrow dark lanes and the overall large-scale asymmetry are indicative of shadowing effects, likely due to a misaligned inner disk. We demonstrate the remarkable resemblance between the scattered light image of HD 143006 and a model prediction of a warped disk due to an inclined binary companion. The warped disk model, based on the hydrodynamic simulations combined with 3D radiative transfer calculations, reproduces all major morphological features. However, it does not account for the observed overbrightness at PA~140 deg. Shadows have been detected in several protoplanetary disks, suggesting that misalignment in disks is not uncommon. However, the origin of the misalignment is not clear. As-yet-undetected stellar or massive planetary companions could be responsible for them, and naturally account for the presence of depleted inner cavities.