Spiral Arms and a Massive Dust Disk with Non-Keplerian Kinematics: Possible Evidence for Gravitational Instability in the Disk of Elias 2–27

  • Paneque-Carreño T
  • Pérez L
  • Benisty M
  • et al.
50Citations
Citations of this article
27Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

To determine the origin of the spiral structure observed in the dust continuum emission of Elias 2–27 we analyze multiwavelength continuum ALMA data with a resolution of ∼0.″2 (∼23 au) at 0.89, 1.3, and 3.3 mm. We also study the kinematics of the disk with 13 CO and C 18 O ALMA observations in the J = 3–2 transition. The spiral arm morphology is recovered at all wavelengths in the dust continuum observations, where we measure contrast and spectral index variations along the spiral arms and detect subtle dust-trapping signatures. We determine that the emission from the midplane is cold and interpret the optical depth results as signatures of a disk mass higher than previous constraints. From the gas data, we search for deviations from Keplerian motion and trace the morphology of the emitting surfaces and the velocity profiles. We find an azimuthally varying emission layer height in the system, large-scale emission surrounding the disk, and strong perturbations in the channel maps, colocated with the spirals. Additionally, we develop multigrain dust and gas hydrodynamical simulations of a gravitationally unstable disk and compare them to the observations. Given the large-scale emission and highly perturbed gas structure, together with the comparison of continuum observations to theoretical predictions, we propose infall-triggered gravitational instabilities as the origin for the observed spiral structure.

References Powered by Scopus

Matplotlib: A 2D graphics environment

24657Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Emcee: The MCMC hammer

9503Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

The Astropy Project: Building an Open-science Project and Status of the v2.0 Core Package

5050Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Cited by Powered by Scopus

Molecules with ALMA at planet-forming scales (MAPS). I. program overview and highlights

165Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Molecules with ALMA at planet-forming scales (MAPS). IV. Emission surfaces and vertical distribution of molecules

78Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

PRODIGE - envelope to disk with NOEMA: I. A 3000 au streamer feeding a Class I protostar

58Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Paneque-Carreño, T., Pérez, L. M., Benisty, M., Hall, C., Veronesi, B., Lodato, G., … Wilner, D. (2021). Spiral Arms and a Massive Dust Disk with Non-Keplerian Kinematics: Possible Evidence for Gravitational Instability in the Disk of Elias 2–27. The Astrophysical Journal, 914(2), 88. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/abf243

Readers' Seniority

Tooltip

PhD / Post grad / Masters / Doc 9

64%

Researcher 4

29%

Professor / Associate Prof. 1

7%

Readers' Discipline

Tooltip

Physics and Astronomy 14

100%

Article Metrics

Tooltip
Mentions
Blog Mentions: 2
News Mentions: 1
References: 5

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free