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Register a new userImaging the Dusty Substructures due to Terrestrial Planets in Planet-forming Disks with ALMA and the Next Generation Very Large Array
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We present simulations of the capabilities of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and of a Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) to detect and resolve substructures due to terrestrial planets and Super-Earths in nearby planet-forming disks. We adopt the results of global 2-D hydrodynamical planet-disk simulations that account for the dynamics of gas and dust in a disk with an embedded planet. Our simulations follow the combined evolution of gas and dust for several thousand planetary orbits. We show that long integrations (several tens of hours) with the ngVLA can detect and spatially resolve dust structures due to low-mass rocky planets in the terrestrial planet formation regions of nearby disks (stellocentric radii $r = 1 - 3$ au), under the assumption that the disk viscosity in those regions is low ($alpha le 10^{-5}$). ALMA is instead unable to resolve these structures in these disk regions. We also show that high-resolution ngVLA observations separated by several days to few weeks would allow to detect the proper motion of the azimuthally asymmetric structures expected in the disk regions of terrestrial planet formation.
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We present simulations of the capabilities of the Next Generation Very Large Array to image at high angular resolution substructures in the dust emission of protoplanetary disks. The main goal of this study is to investigate the kinds of substructures that are expected by state-of-the-art 3D simulations of disks and that an instrument like the ngVLA, with its current design, can detect. The disk simulations adopted in this investigation consist of global 3D radiation-hydrodynamics models with embedded particles, the latter representing dust grains. Our work shows that the ngVLA can detect and spatially resolve, down to sub-astronomical unit scales in disks in nearby star forming regions, the dust continuum emission at 3mm from azimuthal asymmetric structures, as well as from weak rings and gaps produced in these models as a consequence of the vertical shear instability (VSI). This hydrodynamical instability has been proposed to generate turbulence in regions of weak coupling between the disk gas and magnetic field, as well as to form vortices which may be preferred locations of planetesimal formation.
We explore the dynamical structure of the protoplanetary disks surrounding HD 163296 and MWC 480 as part of the Molecules with ALMA at Planet Forming Scales (MAPS) large program. Using the $J = 2-1$ transitions of $^{12}$CO, $^{13}$CO and C$^{18}$O imaged at spatial resolutions of $sim 0.^{prime prime}15$ and with a channel spacing of $200$ ${rm m,s^{-1}}$, we find perturbations from Keplerian rotation in the projected velocity fields of both disks ($lesssim!5%$ of the local Keplerian velocity), suggestive of large-scale (10s of au in size), coherent flows. By accounting for the azimuthal dependence on the projection of the velocity field, the velocity fields were decomposed into azimuthally averaged orthogonal components, $v_{phi}$, $v_r$ and $v_z$. Using the optically thick $^{12}$CO emission as a probe of the gas temperature, local variations of $approx! 3$ K ($approx! 5 %$ relative changes) were observed and found to be associated with the kinematic substructures. The MWC 480 disk hosts a suite of tightly wound spiral arms. The spirals arms, in conjunction with the highly localized perturbations in the gas velocity structure (kinematic planetary signatures), indicate a giant planet, $sim! 1$ $M_{rm Jup}$, at a radius of $approx 245$ au. In the disk of HD 163296, the kinematic substructures were consistent with previous studies of Pinte et al. (2018a) and Teague et al. (2018a) advocating for multiple $sim! 1$ $M_{rm Jup}$ planets embedded in the disk. These results demonstrate that molecular line observations that characterize the dynamical structure of disks can be used to search for the signatures of embedded planets. This paper is part of the MAPS special issue of the Astrophysical Journal Supplement.
We perform simulations of the capabilities of the next generation Very Large Array to image stellar radio photospheres. For very large (in angle) stars, such as red supergiants within a few hundred parsecs, good imaging fidelity results can be obtained on radio photospheric structures at 38 GHz employing standard techniques, such as disk model fitting and subtraction, with hundreds of resolution elements over the star, even with just the ngVLA-classic baselines to 1000 km. Using the ngVLA Rev B plus long baseline configuration (with baselines out to 9000 km, August 2018), we find for main sequence stars within $sim$ 10 pc, the photospheres can be easily resolved at 85 GHz, with accurate measures of the mean brightness and size, and possibly imaging large surface structures, as might occur on e.g., active M dwarf stars. For more distant main sequence stars, we find that measurements of sizes and brightnesses can be made using disk model fitting to the u,v-data down to stellar diameters $sim$ 0.4 mas in a few hours. This size would include M0 V stars to a distance of 15 pc, A0 V stars to 60 pc, and Red Giants to 2.4 kpc. Based on the Hipparcos catalog, we estimate that there are at least 10,000 stars that will be resolved by the ngVLA. While the vast majority of these (95%) are giants or supergiants, there are still over 500 main sequence stars that can be resolved, with $sim$ 50 to 150 in each spectral type (besides O stars). Note that these are lower limits, since radio photospheres can be larger than optical, and the Hipparcos catalog might not be complete. Our initial look into the Gaia catalog suggests these numbers might be pessimistic by a factor few.
The next generation Very Large Array (ngVLA) is a transformational radio observatory being designed by the U.S. National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). It will provide order of magnitude improvements in sensitivity, resolution, and uv coverage over the current Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) at ~1.2-50 GHz and extend the frequency range up to 70-115 GHz. This document is a white paper written by members of the Canadian community for the 2020 Long Range Plan panel, which will be making recommendations on Canadas future directions in astronomy. Since Canadians have been historically major users of the VLA and have been valued partners with NRAO for ALMA, Canadas participation in ngVLA is welcome. Canadians have been actually involved in ngVLA discussions for the past five years, and have played leadership roles in the ngVLA Science and Technical Advisory Councils. Canadian technologies are also very attractive for the ngVLA, in particular our designs for radio antennas, receivers, correlates, and data archives, and our industrial capacities to realize them. Indeed, the Canadian designs for the ngVLA antennas and correlator/beamformer are presently the baseline models for the project. Given the size of Canadas radio community and earlier use of the VLA (and ALMA), we recommend Canadian participation in the ngVLA at the 7% level. Such participation would be significant enough to allow Canadian leadership in gVLAs construction and usage. Canadas participation in ngVLA should not preclude its participation in SKA; access to both facilities is necessary to meet Canadas radio astronomy needs. Indeed, ngVLA will fill the gap between those radio frequencies observable with the SKA and ALMA at high sensitivities and resolutions. Canadas partnership in ngVLA will give it access to cutting-edge facilities together covering approximately three orders of magnitude in frequency.
The discovery of thousands of exoplanets over the last couple of decades has shown that the birth of planets is a very efficient process in nature. Theories invoke a multitude of mechanisms to describe the assembly of planets in the disks around pre-main-sequence stars, but observational constraints have been sparse on account of insufficient sensitivity and resolution. Understanding how planets form and interact with their parental disk is crucial also to illuminate the main characteristics of a large portion of the full population of planets that is inaccessible to current and near-future observations. This White Paper describes some of the main issues for our current understanding of the formation and evolution of planets, and the critical contribution expected in this field by the Next Generation Very Large Array.
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