A

exoALMA. V. Gaseous Emission Surfaces and Temperature Structures

The Astrophysical Journal Letters, vol. 984, pp. L10

Abstract

Abstract An analysis of the gaseous component in protoplanetary disks can inform us about their thermal and physical structure, chemical composition, and kinematic properties, all of which are crucial for understanding various processes within the disks. By exploiting the asymmetry of the line emission, or via line profile analysis, we can locate the emitting surfaces. Here, we present the emission surfaces of the exoALMA sources in 12CO J = 3–2, 13CO J = 3–2, and CS J = 7–6. We find that 12CO traces the upper disk atmosphere, with mean 〈z/r〉 values of ≈0.28, while 13CO and CS trace lower regions of the disk with mean 〈z/r〉 values of ≈0.16 and ≈0.18, respectively. We find that 12CO 〈z/r〉 and the disk mass are positively correlated with each other; this relationship offers a straightforward way to infer the disk mass. We derive 2D r – z temperature distributions of the disks. Additionally, we search for substructure in the surfaces and radial intensity profiles; we find evidence of localized substructure in the emission surfaces and peak intensity profiles of nearly every disk, with this substructure often being coincident between molecular tracers, intensity profiles, and kinematic perturbations. Four disks display evidence of potential photodesorption, implying that this effect may be common even in low far-ultraviolet star-forming regions. For most disks, we find that the physical and thermal structure is more complex than analytical models can account for, highlighting a need for more theoretical work and a better understanding of the role of projection effects on our observations.

Authors 38

  1. University of Florida

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Astronomy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA

  2. University of Florida

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Astronomy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA

  3. Leiden University · European Southern Observatory · University of Florida · Leiden Observatory

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Astronomy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA

    European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2, D-85748 Garching bei München, Germany

    Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9513, NL-2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands

  4. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Université Côte d'Azur · Lagrange Laboratory · Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur

    Affiliation as printed

    Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, France

  5. University of Milan · University of Cambridge

    Affiliation as printed

    Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano, Italy

    Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Rd., CB30HA, Cambridge, UK

  6. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

  7. Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian

    Affiliation as printed

    Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

  8. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Université Côte d'Azur · Max Planck Institute for Astronomy · Lagrange Laboratory · Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur

    Affiliation as printed

    Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA), Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany

    Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, France

  9. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Université Côte d'Azur · Max Planck Institute for Astronomy · Lagrange Laboratory · Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur

    Affiliation as printed

    Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA), Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany

    Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, France

  10. University of Milan

    Affiliation as printed

    Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano, Italy

  11. University of Milan

    Affiliation as printed

    Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano, Italy

  12. Wesleyan University · Pennsylvania State University

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, 525 Davey Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA

    Department of Astronomy, Van Vleck Observatory, Wesleyan University, 96 Foss Hill Drive, Middletown, CT 06459, USA

  13. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble · Monash University · Université Grenoble Alpes

    Affiliation as printed

    School of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University, VIC 3800, Australia

    Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, 38000 Grenoble, France

  14. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Université Côte d'Azur · Lagrange Laboratory · Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur

    Affiliation as printed

    Université Côte d’Azur, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, CNRS, Laboratoire Lagrange, France

  15. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

  16. National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

    Affiliation as printed

    National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Osawa 2-21-1, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan

  17. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble · Université Grenoble Alpes

    Affiliation as printed

    Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, 38000 Grenoble, France

  18. University of Milan · University of Chile

    Affiliation as printed

    Departamento de Astronomía, Universidad de Chile, Camino El Observatorio 1515, Las Condes, Santiago, Chile

    Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano, Italy

  19. University of St Andrews

    Affiliation as printed

    School of Physics & Astronomy, University of St. Andrews, North Haugh, St. Andrews KY16 9SS, UK

  20. Max Planck Institute for Astronomy

    Affiliation as printed

    Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA), Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany

  21. National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

    Affiliation as printed

    National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan

  22. Los Alamos National Laboratory · Rice University

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, 6100 Main St., Houston, TX 77005, USA

    Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA

  23. Monash University

    Affiliation as printed

    School of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University, Clayton VIC 3800, Australia

  24. University of Georgia

    Affiliation as printed

    Center for Simulational Physics, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA

    Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA

    Institute for Artificial Intelligence, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA

  25. Columbia University

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Astronomy, Columbia University, 538 W. 120th St., Pupin Hall, New York, NY, USA

  26. University of Leeds

    Affiliation as printed

    School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

  27. Ibaraki University

    Affiliation as printed

    College of Science, Ibaraki University, 2-1-1 Bunkyo, Mito, Ibaraki 310-8512, Japan

  28. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble · Université Grenoble Alpes

    Affiliation as printed

    Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, 38000 Grenoble, France

  29. University of Milan

    Affiliation as printed

    Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano, Italy

  30. National Radio Astronomy Observatory

    Affiliation as printed

    National Radio Astronomy Observatory, 520 Edgemont Rd., Charlottesville, VA 22903, USA

  31. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble · Université Grenoble Alpes

    Affiliation as printed

    Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, 38000 Grenoble, France

  32. Ibaraki University

    Affiliation as printed

    College of Science, Ibaraki University, 2-1-1 Bunkyo, Mito, Ibaraki 310-8512, Japan

  33. Monash University

    Affiliation as printed

    School of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University, Clayton VIC 3800, Australia

  34. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble · Université Grenoble Alpes

    Affiliation as printed

    Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IPAG, 38000 Grenoble, France

  35. Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian

    Affiliation as printed

    Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

  36. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA

  37. Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica · Academia Sinica

    Affiliation as printed

    Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy & Astrophysics, 11F of Astronomy-Mathematics Building, AS/NTU, No.1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei 10617, Taiwan

  38. The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI · National Astronomical Observatory of Japan

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Astronomical Science, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan

    National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan

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References 119