MINDS. The Detection of 13CO2 with JWST-MIRI Indicates Abundant CO2 in a Protoplanetary Disk
Journal article, 2023
We present JWST-MIRI Medium Resolution Spectrometer (MRS) spectra of the protoplanetary disk around the low-mass T Tauri star GW Lup from the MIRI mid-INfrared Disk Survey Guaranteed Time Observations program. Emission from 12CO213CO2, H2O, HCN, C2H2, and OH is identified with 13CO2 being detected for the first time in a protoplanetary disk. We characterize the chemical and physical conditions in the inner few astronomical units of the GW Lup disk using these molecules as probes. The spectral resolution of JWST-MIRI MRS paired with high signal-to-noise data is essential to identify these species and determine their column densities and temperatures. The Q branches of these molecules, including those of hot bands, are particularly sensitive to temperature and column density. We find that the 12CO2 emission in the GW Lup disk is coming from optically thick emission at a temperature of ∼400 K. 13CO2 is optically thinner and based on a lower temperature of ∼325 K, and thus may be tracing deeper into the disk and/or a larger emitting radius than 12CO2. The derived N CO 2 / N H 2 O ratio is orders of magnitude higher than previously derived for GW Lup and other targets based on Spitzer-InfraRed-Spectrograph data. This high column density ratio may be due to an inner cavity with a radius in between the H2O and CO2 snowlines and/or an overall lower disk temperature. This paper demonstrates the unique ability of JWST to probe inner disk structures and chemistry through weak, previously unseen molecular features.
Author
Sierra L. Grant
Max Planck Society
Ewine F. van Dishoeck
Leiden University
Max Planck Society
Benoît Tabone
Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale
Danny Gasman
KU Leuven
T. Henning
Max Planck Society
I. Kamp
University of Groningen
M. Gudel
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich (ETH)
Max Planck Society
University of Vienna
P. O. Lagage
University Paris-Saclay
Giulio Bettoni
Max Planck Society
G. Perotti
Max Planck Society
Valentin Christiaens
University of Liège
Matthias Samland
Max Planck Society
Aditya M. Arabhavi
University of Groningen
Ioannis Argyriou
KU Leuven
Alain Abergel
Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale
O. Absil
University of Liège
D. Barrado
European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC)
Anthony Boccaletti
Paris Observatory
J. Bouwman
Max Planck Society
A. Caratti o Garatti
Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
V. C. Geers
Royal Observatory
A. M. Glauser
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich (ETH)
Rodrigo Guadarrama
University of Vienna
Hyerin Jang
Radboud University
Jayatee Kanwar
University of Groningen
Institut fur Weltraumforschung
F. Lahuis
Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON)
M. Morales-Calderon
European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC)
M. Mueller
University of Groningen
Cyrine Nehmé
University Paris-Saclay
G. Olofsson
Stockholm University
E. Pantin
University Paris-Saclay
Nicole Pawellek
University of Vienna
T. P. Ray
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
Donna Rodgers-Lee
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
S. Scheithauer
Max Planck Society
Jürgen Schreiber
Max Planck Society
Kamber Schwarz
Max Planck Society
Milou Temmink
Leiden University
B. Vandenbussche
KU Leuven
Marissa Vlasblom
Leiden University
L. B.F.M. Waters
Radboud University
Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON)
Gillian Wright
Royal Observatory
L. Colina
Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB)
T. R. Greve
Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
Kay Justtanont
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Astronomy and Plasmaphysics
G. Östlin
Stockholm University
Astrophysical Journal Letters
2041-8205 (ISSN) 2041-8213 (eISSN)
Vol. 947 1 L6Subject Categories
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics
Condensed Matter Physics
DOI
10.3847/2041-8213/acc44b