The edge-on protoplanetary disk HH 48 NE
Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 677, pp. A18
Abstract
Context. The abundance and distribution of ice in protoplanetary disks is critical for an understanding of the link between the composition of circumstellar matter and the composition of exoplanets. Edge-on protoplanetary disks are a useful tool for constraining this ice composition and its location in the disk because the spectral signatures of the ice can be observed in absorption against the continuum emission that arises from the warmer regions in the central disk. Aims. The aim of this work is to model ice absorption features in protoplanetary disks and to determine how well the abundance of the main ice species throughout the disk can be determined within the uncertainty of the physical parameter space. The edge-on proto-planetary disk around HH 48 NE, a target of the James Webb Space Telescope Early Release program Ice Age, is used as a reference system. Methods. We used the full anisotropic scattering capabilities of the radiative transfer code RADMC-3D to ray-trace the mid-infrared continuum. Using a constant parameterized ice abundance, we added ice opacities to the dust opacity in regions in which the disk was cold enough for the main carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen carriers to freeze out. Results. The global abundance relative to the dust content of the main ice carriers in HH 48 NE can be determined within a factor of 3 when the uncertainty of the physical parameters is taken into account. Ice features in protoplanetary disks can be saturated at an optical depth of ≲1 due to local saturation. Ices are observed at various heights in the disk model, but in this model, spatial information is lost for features at wavelengths >7 µm when observing with James Webb Space Telescope because the angular resolution decreases towards longer wavelengths. Spatially observed ice optical depths cannot be directly related to column densities, as would be the case for direct absorption against a bright continuum source, because of radiative transfer effects. Vertical snowlines will not be a clear transition because the height of the snow surface increases radially, but their location may be constrained from observations using radiative transfer modeling. Radial snowlines are not really accessible. Not only the ice abundance, but also the inclination, the settling, the grain size distribution, and the disk mass have a strong impact on the observed ice absorption features in disks. Relative changes in the ice abundance can only be inferred from observations if the source structure is well constrained.
Authors 14
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Leiden University · Leiden Observatory
Affiliation as printed
Leiden Observatory , Leiden University , PO Box 9513 , 2300 RA Leiden , The Netherlands
Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, PO Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
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Leiden University · Leiden Observatory
Affiliation as printed
Leiden Observatory , Leiden University , PO Box 9513 , 2300 RA Leiden , The Netherlands
Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, PO Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
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University of California, Berkeley
Affiliation as printed
Department of Chemistry , University of California , Berkeley , CA 94720-1460 , USA
Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-1460, USA
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Affiliation as printed
Institute of Astronomy , Department of Physics , National Tsing Hua University , Hsinchu , Taiwan
Institute of Astronomy, Department of Physics, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
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Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d'Orsay
Affiliation as printed
Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d'Orsay , CNRS , Univ. Paris-Saclay , 91405 Orsay , France
Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d'Orsay, CNRS, Univ. Paris-Saclay, 91405 Orsay, France
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University of Bern · Center for Space and Habitability
Affiliation as printed
Center for Space and Habitability , Universität Bern , Gesellschaftsstrasse 6 , 3012 , Bern , Switzerland
Center for Space and Habitability, Universität Bern, Gesellschaftsstrasse 6, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
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Affiliation as printed
Center for Interstellar Catalysis , Department of Physics and Astronomy , Aarhus University , Ny Munkegade 120 , Aarhus C 8000 , Denmark
Center for Interstellar Catalysis, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 120, Aarhus C 8000, Denmark
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Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian
Affiliation as printed
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden St. , Cambridge , MA 02138 , USA
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
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Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian
Affiliation as printed
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian , 60 Garden St. , Cambridge , MA 02138 , USA
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, 60 Garden St., Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
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Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania · National Institute for Astrophysics
Affiliation as printed
INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania , via Santa Sofia 78 , 95123 Catania , Italy
INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania, via Santa Sofia 78, 95123 Catania, Italy
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Physics , University of Central Florida , Orlando , FL 32816 , USA
Department of Physics, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816, USA
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Leiden University · Leiden Observatory
Affiliation as printed
Laboratory for Astrophysics , Leiden Observatory , Leiden University , PO Box 9513 , 2300 RA Leiden , The Netherlands
Leiden Observatory , Leiden University , PO Box 9513 , 2300 RA Leiden , The Netherlands
Laboratory for Astrophysics, Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, PO Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, PO Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
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National Institutes of Natural Sciences · TMT Observatory · National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
Affiliation as printed
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan , National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) , 2-21-1 Osawa , Mitaka , Tokyo 181-8588 , Japan
TMT International Observatory , 100 W Walnut St , Suite 300 , Pasadena , CA USA
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS), 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan
TMT International Observatory, 100 W Walnut St, Suite 300, Pasadena, CA USA
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Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania · National Institute for Astrophysics
Affiliation as printed
INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania , via Santa Sofia 78 , 95123 Catania , Italy
INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Catania, via Santa Sofia 78, 95123 Catania, Italy
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