A rich hydrocarbon chemistry and high C to O ratio in the inner disk around a very low-mass star
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2023
Carbon is an essential element for life but how much can be delivered to young planets is still an open question. The chemical characterization of planet-forming disks is a crucial step in our understanding of the diversity and habitability of exoplanets. Very low-mass stars (less than 0.2 M ⊙) are interesting targets because they host a rich population of terrestrial planets. Here we present the James Webb Space Telescope detection of abundant hydrocarbons in the disk of a very low-mass star obtained as part of the Mid-InfraRed Instrument mid-INfrared Disk Survey (MINDS). In addition to very strong and broad emission from C2H2 and its 13C12CH2 isotopologue, C4H2, benzene and possibly CH4 are identified, but water, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and silicate features are weak or absent. The lack of small silicate grains indicates that we can look deep down into this disk. These detections testify to an active warm hydrocarbon chemistry with a high C/O ratio larger than unity in the inner 0.1 astronomical units (AU) of this disk, perhaps due to destruction of carbonaceous grains. The exceptionally high C2H2/CO2 and C2H2/H2O column density ratios indicate that oxygen is locked up in icy pebbles and planetesimals outside the water iceline. This, in turn, will have important consequences for the composition of forming exoplanets.
Författare
Benoît Tabone
Universiteit Leiden
Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale
Giulio Bettoni
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Universiteit Leiden
Ewine F. van Dishoeck
Universiteit Leiden
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Aditya M. Arabhavi
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Sierra L. Grant
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Danny Gasman
KU Leuven
T. Henning
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
I. Kamp
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
M. Gudel
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH)
Universität Wien
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
P. O. Lagage
Université Paris-Saclay
T. P. Ray
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
B. Vandenbussche
KU Leuven
Alain Abergel
Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale
O. Absil
Universite de Liège
Ioannis Argyriou
KU Leuven
D. Barrado
Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB)
Anthony Boccaletti
Observatoire de Paris
J. Bouwman
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
A. Caratti o. Garatti
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
V. C. Geers
Royal Observatory
A. M. Glauser
Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH)
Kay Justtanont
Chalmers, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Astronomi och plasmafysik
F. Lahuis
Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON)
M. Mueller
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Cyrine Nehmé
Université Paris-Saclay
G. Olofsson
Stockholms universitet
E. Pantin
Université Paris-Saclay
S. Scheithauer
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
C. Waelkens
KU Leuven
L. B.F.M. Waters
Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON)
Radboud Universiteit
John H Black
Chalmers, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Astronomi och plasmafysik
Valentin Christiaens
Universite de Liège
Rodrigo Guadarrama
Universität Wien
M. Morales-Calderon
Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB)
Hyerin Jang
Radboud Universiteit
Jayatee Kanwar
Institut fur Weltraumforschung
Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
Nicole Pawellek
Universität Wien
Magyar Tudomanyos Akademia
G. Perotti
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Agnès Perrin
Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC)
Donna Rodgers-Lee
Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies
Matthias Samland
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Jürgen Schreiber
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Kamber Schwarz
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
L. Colina
Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB)
G. Östlin
Stockholms universitet
Gillian Wright
Royal Observatory
Nature Astronomy
23973366 (eISSN)
Vol. 7 7 805-814Ämneskategorier
Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi
DOI
10.1038/s41550-023-01965-3