ALMA chemical survey of disk-outflow sources in Taurus (ALMA-DOT) II: Vertical stratification of CO, CS, CN, H$_2$CO, and CH$_3$OH in a Class I disk


Abstract in English

The chemical composition of planets is inherited from that of the protoplanetary disk at the time of planet formation. Increasing observational evidence suggests that planet formation occurs in less than 1 Myr. This motivates the need for spatially resolved spectral observations of Class I disks, as carried out by the ALMA chemical survey of Disk-Outflow sources in Taurus (ALMA-DOT). In the context of ALMA-DOT, we observe the edge-on disk around the Class I source IRAS 04302+2247 (the butterfly star) in the 1.3mm continuum and five molecular lines. We report the first tentative detection of methanol (CH$_3$OH) in a Class I disk and resolve, for the first time, the vertical structure of a disk with multiple molecular tracers. The bulk of the emission in the CO 2-1, CS 5-4, and o-H$_2$CO 3(1,2)-2(1,1) lines originates from the warm molecular layer, with the line intensity peaking at increasing disk heights, $z$, for increasing radial distances, $r$. Molecular emission is vertically stratified, with CO observed at larger disk heights (aperture $z/rsim0.41-0.45$) compared to both CS and H$_2$CO, which are nearly cospatial ($z/rsim0.21-0.28$). In the outer midplane, the line emission decreases due to molecular freeze-out onto dust grains (freeze-out layer) by a factor of >100 (CO) and 15 (CS). The H$_2$CO emission decreases by a factor of only about 2, which is possibly due to H$_2$CO formation on icy grains, followed by a nonthermal release into the gas phase. The inferred [CH$_3$OH]/[H$_2$CO] abundance ratio is 0.5-0.6, which is 1-2 orders of magnitude lower than for Class 0 hot corinos, and a factor ~2.5 lower than the only other value inferred for a protoplanetary disk (in TW Hya, 1.3-1.7). Additionally, it is at the lower edge but still consistent with the values in comets. This may indicate that some chemical reprocessing occurs in disks before the formation of planets and comets.

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