Spiral excitation in protoplanetary disks through gap-edge illumination: distinctive kinematic signatures in CO isotopologues
High-resolution near-infrared observations have revealed prominent two-armed spirals in a multitude of systems, such as MWC 758, SAO 206462, and V1247 Ori. Alongside the classical theory of disk-companion interaction, shadow-based driving has come into vogue as a potential explanation for such large...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
27 January 2026
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| In: |
Astronomy and astrophysics
Year: 2026, Volume: 705, Pages: 1-18 |
| ISSN: | 1432-0746 |
| DOI: | 10.1051/0004-6361/202557938 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202557938 Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2026/01/aa57938-25/aa57938-25.html 
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| Author Notes: | Dhruv Muley, León-Alexander Hühn, Haochang Jiang, and David Melon Fuksman |
| Summary: | High-resolution near-infrared observations have revealed prominent two-armed spirals in a multitude of systems, such as MWC 758, SAO 206462, and V1247 Ori. Alongside the classical theory of disk-companion interaction, shadow-based driving has come into vogue as a potential explanation for such large-scale substructures. This raises the question of how these two mechanisms might be distinguished from one another in observations. To investigate this question, we ran a pair of hydrodynamical simulations with PLUTO. The first, with full radiation hydrodynamics and gas-grain collision, was designed to develop shadow-driven spirals at the outer gap edge of a subthermal Saturn-mass planet. The second simulation, with parameterized β-cooling, was set up to capture the more standard view of spiral wave excitation by a super-thermal, multi-Jupiter-mass, exterior planetary companion. Post-processing of these simulations with the Monte Carlo radiative transfer (MCRT) code RADMC3D revealed that strong vertical velocities in the shadow-driven case create a prominent two-armed feature in the moment-1 CO maps, particularly when the disk is viewed face-on in optically thicker isotopologues; this feature is not seen in the standard planet-driven case. Conversely, the presence or absence of such signatures in two-armed spiral systems would distinguish those potentially driven by exterior multi-Jupiter-mass companions, and thus help identify promising targets for future direct-imaging campaigns. |
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| Item Description: | Gesehen am 20.03.2026 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1432-0746 |
| DOI: | 10.1051/0004-6361/202557938 |