OH as a probe of the warm-water cycle in planet-forming disks
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2024

Water is a key ingredient for the emergence of life as we know it. Yet, its destruction and reformation in space remain unprobed in warm gas (T > 300 K). Here we detect with the James Webb Space Telescope the emission of the hydroxyl radical (OH) from d203-506, a planet-forming disk exposed to external far-ultraviolet (FUV) radiation. These observations were made as part of the Early Release Science programme PDRs4All, which is focused on the Orion bar. The observed OH spectrum is compared with the results of quantum dynamical calculations to reveal two essential molecular processes. The highly excited rotational lines of OH in the mid-infrared are telltale signs of H2O destruction by FUV radiation. The OH rovibrational lines in the near-infrared are attributed to chemical excitation by the key reaction O + H-2 -> OH + H, which seeds the formation of water in the gas phase. These results show that under warm and irradiated conditions, water is destroyed and efficiently reformed through gas-phase reactions. We infer that, in this source, the equivalent of Earth oceans' worth of water is destroyed per month and replenished. This warm-water cycle could reprocess some water inherited from cold interstellar clouds and explain the lower deuterium fraction of water in Earth's oceans compared with that found around protostars.

Författare

Marion Zannese

Université Paris-Saclay

Benoit Tabone

Université Paris-Saclay

Emilie Habart

Université Paris-Saclay

Javier R. Goicoechea

CSIC - Instituto de Fisica Fundamental (IFF)

Alexandre Zanchet

CSIC - Instituto de Fisica Fundamental (IFF)

Ewine F. van Dishoeck

Universiteit Leiden

Max-Planck-Gesellschaft

Marc C. van Hemert

Universiteit Leiden

John H Black

Chalmers, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Astronomi och plasmafysik

Alexander G. G. M. Tielens

Universiteit Leiden

University of Maryland

A. Veselinova

Universidad de Salamanca

P. G. Jambrina

Universidad de Salamanca

M. Menendez

Universidad Complutense de Madrid

E. Verdasco

Universidad Complutense de Madrid

F. J. Aoiz

Universidad Complutense de Madrid

L. Gonzalez-Sanchez

Universidad de Salamanca

Boris Trahin

Université Paris-Saclay

Emmanuel Dartois

Université Paris-Saclay

Olivier Berne

Universite Paul Sabatier Toulouse III

Els Peeters

Western University

SETI Institute

Jinhua He

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Universidad de Chile (UCH)

Ameek Sidhu

Western University

Ryan Chown

Western University

Ilane Schroetter

Universite Paul Sabatier Toulouse III

Dries van de Putte

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

Amelie Canin

Universite Paul Sabatier Toulouse III

Felipe Alarcon

University of Michigan

Alain Abergel

Université Paris-Saclay

Edwin A. Bergin

University of Michigan

Jeronimo Bernard-Salas

Innovative Common Laboratory For Space Spectroscopy (INCLASS)

CERGA (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherche de Grasse ACRI)

Christiaan Boersma

NASA Ames Research Center

Emeric Bron

Sorbonne Université

Jan Cami

Western University

SETI Institute

Daniel Dicken

Royal Observatory

Meriem Elyajouri

Université Paris-Saclay

Asuncion Fuente

Centro de Astrobiología (INTA-CSIC)

Karl D. Gordon

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

Universiteit Gent

Lina Issa

Universite Paul Sabatier Toulouse III

Christine Joblin

Universite Paul Sabatier Toulouse III

Olga Kannavou

Université Paris-Saclay

Baria Khan

Western University

David Languignon

Sorbonne Université

Romane Le Gal

Université Grenoble Alpes

Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)

Alexandros Maragkoudakis

NASA Ames Research Center

Raphael Meshaka

Université Paris-Saclay

Sorbonne Université

Yoko Okada

Universität zu Köln

Takashi Onaka

Meisei University

University of Tokyo

Sofia Pasquini

Western University

Marc W. Pound

University of Michigan

Massimo Robberto

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

Johns Hopkins University

Markus Roellig

Fraunhofer-Institut für Angewandte Festkörperphysik

Universität zu Köln

Physikalischer Verein

Bethany Schefter

Western University

Thiébaut-Antoine Schirmer

Chalmers, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Astronomi och plasmafysik

Silvia Vicente

Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço (IA)

Mark G. Wolfire

University of Maryland

Nature Astronomy

23973366 (eISSN)

Vol. 8 5 577-586

Ämneskategorier

Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi

DOI

10.1038/s41550-024-02203-0

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2024-08-19