No Arabic abstract
The search for young planets had its first breakthrough with the detection of the accreting planet PDS70b. In this study, we aim to broaden our understanding towards the formation of multi-planet systems such as HR8799 or the Solar System. Our previous study on HD169142, one of the closest Herbig stars, points towards a shadow-casting protoplanetary candidate. Here, we present follow-up observations to test our previously proposed hypothesis. We set our new data into context with previous observations to follow structural changes in the disk over the course of 6 years. We find spatially resolved systematic changes in the position of the previously described surface brightness dip in the inner ring. We further find changes in the brightness structure in azimuthal direction along the ring. And finally, a comparison of our SPHERE data with recent ALMA observations reveals a wavelength dependent radial profile of the bright ring. The time-scale on which the changes in the rings surface brightness occur suggest that they are caused by a shadow cast by a 1-10Mj planet surrounded by dust, an orbit comparable to those of the giant planets in our own Solar System. Additionally, we find the first indications for temperature-induced instabilities in the ring. And finally, we trace a pressure maxima, for the first time spatially resolved, with a width of 4.5au. The density distribution of the ring at mm wavelengths around the pressure maxima could further indicate effects from snow lines or even the dynamics and feedback of the larger grains.
In order to look for signs of on-going planet formation in young disks, we carried out the first J-band polarized emission imaging of the Herbig Ae/Be stars HD 150193, HD 163296, and HD 169142 using the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI), along with new H band observations of HD 144432. We confirm the complex double ring structure for the nearly face-on system HD 169142 first seen in H-band, finding the outer ring to be substantially redder than the inner one in polarized intensity. Using radiative transfer modeling, we developed a physical model that explains the full spectral energy distribution (SED) and J- and H-band surface brightness profiles, suggesting that the differential color of the two rings could come from reddened starlight traversing the inner wall and may not require differences in grain properties. In addition, we clearly detect an elongated, off-center ring in HD 163296 (MWC 275), locating the scattering surface to be 18 AU above the midplane at a radial distance of 77 AU, co-spatial with a ring seen at 1.3mm by ALMA linked to the CO snow line. Lastly, we report a weak tentative detection of scattered light for HD 150193 (MWC 863) and a non-detection for HD 144432; the stellar companion known for each of these targets has likely disrupted the material in the outer disk of the primary star. For HD 163296 and HD 169142, the prominent outer rings we detect could be evidence for giant planet formation in the outer disk or a manifestation of large-scale dust growth processes possibly related to snow-line chemistry.
We report the detection of a faint pointlike feature possibly related to ongoing planet-formation in the disk of the transition disk star HD 169142. The pointlike feature has a $Delta$mag(L)$sim$6.4, at a separation of $sim$0.11 and PA$sim$0$^{circ}$. Given its lack of an H or K$_{S}$ counterpart despite its relative brightness, this candidate cannot be explained by purely photospheric emission and must be a disk feature heated by an as yet unknown source. Its extremely red colors make it highly unlikely to be a background object, but future multi-wavelength followup is necessary for confirmation and characterization of this feature.
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.
We investigate high resolution imaging polarimetry of HD 169142 taken in the R and I bands with the SPHERE/ZIMPOL instrument for an accurate quantitative measurement of the radiation scattered by the circumstellar disk. We observe a strong dependence of the disk polarimetry on the atmospheric turbulences, which strongly impact the AO performance. With our non-coronagraphic data we can analyze the polarimetric signal of the disk simultaneously with the strongly variable stellar PSF, correct for the convolution effects to determine the intrinsic polarization of the disk with high precision. We also extract the disk intensity signal and derive the fractional polarization. We compare the scattered flux from the inner and outer disk rings with the corresponding thermal dust emissions measured in the IR and estimate the ratio between scattered and absorbed radiation. We obtain ratios between the integrated disk polarization flux and total system flux of 0.43% for the R band and 0.55% for the I band. This indicates a reddish color for the light reflection by the dust. The inner disk ring contributes about 75% to the total disk flux. The obtained fractional polarization for the bright inner disk ring is 23.6% for the I band and similar for the R band. The ratio between scattered disk flux and star flux is about 2.3%. This is much smaller than the derived IR excess of 17.6% for the disk components observed in scattered light. This indicates that only a small fraction of the radiation illuminating the disk is scattered; most is absorbed and reemitted in the IR. We conclude that accurate, quantitative measurements of the scattered light from circumstellar disks are possible with ground based high contrast AO systems, if the PSF convolution effects are properly taken into account, and this provides important new constraints on the properties of the scattering dust.
The Herbig Ae star HD 169142 is known to have a gaseous disk with a large inner hole, and also a photometrically variable inner dust component in the sub-au region. Following up our previous analysis, we further studied the temporal evolution of inner dust around HD 169142, which may provide information on the evolution from late-stage protoplanetary disks to debris disks. We used near-infrared interferometric observations obtained with VLTI/PIONIER to constrain the dust distribution at three epochs spanning six years. We also studied the photometric variability of HD 169142 using our optical-infrared observations and archival data. Our results indicate that a dust ring at ~0.3 au formed at some time between 2013 and 2018, and then faded (but did not completely disappear) by 2019. The short-term variability resembles that observed in extreme debris disks, and is likely related to short-lived dust of secondary origin, though variable shadowing from the inner ring could be an alternative interpretation. If confirmed, this is the first direct detection of secondary dust production inside a protoplanetary disk.