Spiral density waves in a young protoplanetary disk

Gravitational forces are expected to excite spiral density waves in protoplanetary disks, disks of gas and dust orbiting young stars. However, previous observations that showed spiral structure were not able to probe disk midplanes, where most of the mass is concentrated and where planet formation t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Pérez, Laura M. (Author) , Dullemond, Cornelis (Author)
Format: Article (Journal) Chapter/Article
Language:English
Published: 2016
In: Arxiv

Online Access:Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: http://arxiv.org/abs/1610.05139
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Author Notes:Laura M. Pérez, John M. Carpenter, Sean M. Andrews, Luca Ricci, Andrea Isella, Hendrik Linz, Anneila I. Sargent, David J. Wilner, Thomas Henning, Adam T. Deller, Claire J. Chandler, Cornelis P. Dullemond, Joseph Lazio, Karl M. Menten, Stuartt A. Corder, Shaye Storm, Leonardo Testi, Marco Tazzari, Woojin Kwon, Nuria Calvet, Jane S. Greaves, Robert J. Harris, Lee G. Mundy
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Summary:Gravitational forces are expected to excite spiral density waves in protoplanetary disks, disks of gas and dust orbiting young stars. However, previous observations that showed spiral structure were not able to probe disk midplanes, where most of the mass is concentrated and where planet formation takes place. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array we detected a pair of trailing symmetric spiral arms in the protoplanetary disk surrounding the young star Elias 2-27. The arms extend to the disk outer regions and can be traced down to the midplane. These millimeter-wave observations also reveal an emission gap closer to the star than the spiral arms. We argue that the observed spirals trace shocks of spiral density waves in the midplane of this young disk.
Item Description:Gesehen am 16.10.2017
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