ALBERT

Description: Context. The Galilean satellites are thought to have formed from a circumplanetary disk (CPD) surrounding Jupiter. When it reached a critical mass, Jupiter opened an annular gap in the solar protoplanetary disk that might have exposed the CPD to radiation from the young Sun or from the stellar cluster in which the Solar System formed. Aims. We investigate the radiation field to which the Jovian CPD was exposed during the process of satellite formation. The resulting photoevaporation of the CPD is studied in this context to constrain possible formation scenarios for the Galilean satellites and explain architectural features of the Galilean system. Methods. We constructed a model for the stellar birth cluster to determine the intracluster far-ultraviolet (FUV) radiation field. We employed analytical annular gap profiles informed by hydrodynamical simulations to investigate a range of plausible geometries for the Jovian gap. We used the radiation thermochemical code PRODIMO to evaluate the incident radiation field in the Jovian gap and the photoevaporation of an embedded 2D axisymmetric CPD. Results. We derive the time-dependent intracluster FUV radiation field for the solar birth cluster over 10 Myr. We find that intracluster photoevaporation can cause significant truncation of the Jovian CPD. We determine steady-state truncation radii for possible CPDs, finding that the outer radius is proportional to the accretion rate Ṁ0.4. For CPD accretion rates Ṁ 〈 10−12M⊙ yr−1, photoevaporative truncation explains the lack of additional satellites outside the orbit of Callisto. For CPDs of mass MCPD 〈 10−6.2M⊙, photoevaporation can disperse the disk before Callisto is able to migrate into the Laplace resonance. This explains why Callisto is the only massive satellite that is excluded from the resonance.

Description: Context. The origin of the reservoirs of water on Earth is debated. The Earth’s crust may contain at least three times more water than the oceans. This crust water is found in the form of phyllosilicates, whose origin probably differs from that of the oceans. Aims. We test the possibility to form phyllosilicates in protoplanetary disks, which can be the building blocks of terrestrial planets. Methods. We developed an exploratory rate-based warm surface chemistry model where water from the gas-phase can chemisorb on dust grain surfaces and subsequently diffuse into the silicate cores. We applied the phyllosilicate formation to a zero-dimensional chemical model and to a 2D protoplanetary disk model (PRODIMO). The disk model includes in addition to the cold and warm surface chemistry continuum and line radiative transfer, photoprocesses (photodissociation, photoionisation, and photodesorption), gas-phase cold and warm chemistry including three-body reactions, and detailed thermal balance. Results. Despite the high energy barrier for water chemisorption on silicate grain surfaces and for diffusion into the core, the chemisorption sites at the surfaces can be occupied by a hydroxyl bond (–OH) at all gas and dust temperatures from 80 to 700 K for a gas density of 2 × 104 cm−3. The chemisorption sites in the silicate cores are occupied at temperatures between 250 and 700 K. At higher temperatures thermal desorption of chemisorbed water occurs. The occupation efficiency is only limited by the maximum water uptake of the silicate. The timescales for complete hydration are at most 105 yr for 1 mm radius grains at a gas density of 108 cm−3. Conclusions. Phyllosilicates can be formed on dust grains at the dust coagulation stage in protoplanetary disks within 1 Myr. It is however not clear whether the amount of phyllosilicate formed by warm surface chemistry is sufficient compared to that found in Solar System objects.

Description: Context. Molecular hydrogen (H2) is the main constituent of the gas in the planet-forming disks that surround many pre-main-sequence stars. H2 can be incorporated in the atmosphere of the nascent giant planets in disks. Deuterium hydride (HD) has been detected in a few disks and can be considered the most reliable tracer of H2, provided that its abundance throughout the disks with respect to H2 is well understood. Aims. We wish to form H2 and HD efficiently for the varied conditions encountered in protoplanetary disks: the densities vary from 104 to 1016 cm−3; the dust temperatures range from 5 to 1500 K, the gas temperatures go from 5 to a few 1000 Kelvin, and the ultraviolet radiation field can be 107 stronger than the standard interstellar field. Methods. We implemented a comprehensive model of H2 and HD formation on cold and warm grain surfaces and via hydrogenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the physico-chemical code PROtoplanetary DIsk MOdel. The H2 and HD formation on dust grains can proceed via the Langmuir-Hinshelwood and Eley-Ridel mechanisms for physisorbed or chemisorbed H (D) atoms. H2 and HD also form by H (D) abstraction from hydrogenated neutral and ionised PAHs and via gas phase reactions. Results. H2 and HD are formed efficiently on dust grain surfaces from 10 to ~700 K. All the deuterium is converted into HD in UV shielded regions as soon as H2 is formed by gas-phase D abstraction reactions. The detailed model compares well with standard analytical prescriptions for H2 (HD) formation. At low temperature, H2 is formed from the encounter of two physisorbed atoms. HD molecules form on the grain surfaces and in the gas-phase. At temperatures greater than 20 K, the encounter between a weakly bound H- (or D-) atom or a gas-phase H (D) atom and a chemisorbed atom is the most efficient H2 formation route. H2 formation through hydrogenated PAHs alone is efficient above 80 K. However, the contribution of hydrogenated PAHs to the overall H2 and HD formation is relatively low if chemisorption on silicate is taken into account and if a small hydrogen abstraction cross-section is used. The H2 and HD warm grain surface network is a first step in the construction of a network of high-temperature surface reactions.

Description: Context. The X-ray luminosities of T Tauri stars are about two to four orders of magnitude higher than the luminosity of the contemporary Sun. As these stars are born in clusters, their disks are not only irradiated by their parent star but also by an X-ray background field produced by the cluster members. Aims. We aim to quantify the impact of X-ray background fields produced by young embedded clusters on the chemical structure of disks. Further, we want to investigate the importance of the dust for X-ray radiative transfer in disks. Methods. We present a new X-ray radiative transfer module for the radiation thermo-chemical disk code PRODIMO (PROtoplanetary DIsk MOdel), which includes X-ray scattering and absorption by both the gas and dust component. The X-ray dust opacities can be calculated for various dust compositions and dust-size distributions. For the X-ray radiative transfer we consider irradiation by the star and by X-ray background fields. To study the impact of X-rays on the chemical structure of disks we use the well established disk ionization tracers N2H+ and HCO+. Results. For evolved dust populations (e.g. grain growth), X-ray opacities are mostly dominated by the gas; only for photon energies E ≳ 5−10 keV do dust opacities become relevant. Consequently the local disk X-ray radiation field is only affected in dense regions close to the disk midplane. X-ray background fields can dominate the local X-ray disk ionization rate for disk radii r ≳ 20 au. However, the N2H+ and HCO+ column densities are only significantly affected in cases of low cosmic-ray ionization rates (≲10-19 s-1), or if the background flux is at least a factor of ten higher than the flux level of ≈10-5 erg cm-2 s-1 expected for clusters typical for the solar vicinity. Conclusions. Observable signatures of X-ray background fields in low-mass star-formation regions, like Taurus, are only expected for cluster members experiencing a strong X-ray background field (e.g. due to their location within the cluster). For the majority of the cluster members, the X-ray background field has relatively little impact on the disk chemical structure.

Description: Aims. We aim to use the high spatial resolution of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to map the flow pattern of molecular gas near DG Tauri and its disk, a young stellar object driving a jet and a molecular outflow. Methods. We use observations from ALMA in the J = 2 − 1 transition of 12CO, 13CO, and C18O to study the Keplerian disk of DG Tauri and outflows that may be related to the disk and the jet. Results. We find a new wind component flowing radially at a steep angle (≈25° from the vertical) above the disk with a velocity of ≈3.1 km s−1. It continues the trend of decreasing velocity for increasing distance from the jet axis (“onion-like velocity structure”). Conclusions. The new component is located close to the protostellar disk surface and may be related to photoevaporative winds.

Description: Context. Several detections of wide-orbit planet-mass/substellar companions around young solar-like stars were reported in the last decade. The origin of those possible planets is still unclear, but accretion tracers and VLT/SPHERE observations indicate that they are surrounded by circumplanetary material or even a circumplanetary disk (CPD). Aims. We want to investigate if the gas component of disks around wide-orbit companions is detectable with current (ALMA) and future (ngVLA; sub)mm telescopes and what constraints such gas observations can provide on the nature of the circumplanetary material and the mass of the companion. Methods. We applied the radiation thermochemical disk code PRODIMO to model the dust and gas component of passive CPDs and produced realistic synthetic observables. We considered different companion properties (mass, luminosity), disk parameters (mass, size, and dust properties) and radiative environments (background fields) and compared the resulting synthetic observables to telescope sensitivities and existing dust observations. Results. The main criterion for a successful detection is the size of the CPD. At a distance of about 150 pc, a CPD with an outer radius of about 10 au is detectable with ALMA in about six hours in optically thick CO lines. Other aspects, such as the luminosity, disk inclination, and background radiation fields of the companion, are also relevant and should be considered to optimize the observing strategy for detection experiments. Conclusions. For most of the known wide-orbit planet-mass companions, their maximum theoretical disk size of one-third of the Hill radius would be sufficient to allow detection of CO lines. It is therefore feasible to detect their gas disks and constrain the mass of the companion through the kinematic signature. Even in the case of non-detections such observations provide stringent constraints on disk size and gas mass, and this information is crucial for formation theories.