From AAS NOVA: “Featured Image: Evidence for Planets in Disks?”

AASNOVA

From AAS NOVA

23 March 2020
Susanna Kohler

1
Disk Substructures at High Angular Resolution Project (DSHARP) ESO/ALMA

Are baby planets responsible for the gaps and rings we’ve spotted in the disks that surround distant, young stars? A new study led by Christophe Pinte (Monash University, Australia; Univ. Grenoble Alpes, France) has found evidence supporting this theory in the images of eight circumstellar disks observed in the Disk Substructures at High Angular Resolution (DSHARP) project. DSHARP uses the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to explore the gas distributed within the disks around young stars.

ESO/NRAO/NAOJ ALMA Array in Chile in the Atacama at Chajnantor plateau, at 5,000 metres

In the image above the left-most panel shows the 1.3-millimeter dust continuum images of five complex circumstellar disks. The panels to the right show gas measurements for each disk in different velocity channels, revealing “velocity kinks” — deviations from the normal Keplerian velocity expected from unperturbed, orbiting gas. According to Pinte and collaborators, the kinks signatures of planets that perturb the gas flow in their vicinity. For more information, check out the article below.

Citation

“Nine Localized Deviations from Keplerian Rotation in the DSHARP Circumstellar Disks: Kinematic Evidence for Protoplanets Carving the Gaps,” C. Pinte et al 2020 ApJL 890 L9.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ab6dda

See the full article here .


five-ways-keep-your-child-safe-school-shootings

Please help promote STEM in your local schools.

Stem Education Coalition

1

AAS Mission and Vision Statement

The mission of the American Astronomical Society is to enhance and share humanity’s scientific understanding of the Universe.

The Society, through its publications, disseminates and archives the results of astronomical research. The Society also communicates and explains our understanding of the universe to the public.
The Society facilitates and strengthens the interactions among members through professional meetings and other means. The Society supports member divisions representing specialized research and astronomical interests.
The Society represents the goals of its community of members to the nation and the world. The Society also works with other scientific and educational societies to promote the advancement of science.
The Society, through its members, trains, mentors and supports the next generation of astronomers. The Society supports and promotes increased participation of historically underrepresented groups in astronomy.
The Society assists its members to develop their skills in the fields of education and public outreach at all levels. The Society promotes broad interest in astronomy, which enhances science literacy and leads many to careers in science and engineering.

Adopted June 7, 2009