Annular substructures in the transition disks around LkCa 15 and J1610

We present high-resolution millimeter continuum ALMA observations of the disks around the T Tauri stars LkCa 15 and 2MASS J16100501-2132318 (hereafter, J1610). These transition disks host dust-depleted inner regions, which have possibly been carved by massive planets, and they are of prime interest to the study of the imprints of planet-disk interactions. While at moderate angular resolution, they appear as a broad ring surrounding a cavity, the continuum emission resolves into multiple rings at a resolution of ~60 × 40 mas (~7.5 au for LkCa 15, ~6 au for J1610) and ~7 μJy beam−1 rms at 1.3 mm. In addition to a broad extended component, LkCa 15 and J1610 host three and two narrow rings, respectively, with two bright rings in LkCa 15 being radially resolved. LkCa 15 possibly hosts another faint ring close to the outer edge of the mm emission. The rings look marginally optically thick, with peak optical depths of ~0.5 (neglecting scattering), in agreement with high angular resolution observations of full disks. We performed hydrodynamical simulations with an embedded, sub-Jovian-mass planet and show that the observed multi-ringed substructure can be qualitatively explained as the outcome of the planet-disk interaction. We note, however, that the choice of the disk cooling timescale alone can significantly impact the resulting gas and dust distributions around the planet, leading to different numbers of rings and gaps and different spacings between them. We propose that the massive outer disk regions of transition disks are favorable places for planetesimals, and possibly second-generation planet formation of objects with a lower mass than the planets carving the inner cavity (typically few MJup), and that the annular substructures observed in LkCa 15 and J1610 may be indicative of planetary core formation within dust-rich pressure traps. Current observations are compatible with other mechanisms contributing to the origin of the observed substructures, in particular with regard to narrow rings generated (or facilitated) at the edge of the CO and N2 snowlines.

Accretion in low-mass members of the Orion Nebula Cluster with young transition disks

Context. Although the Orion Nebula Cluster is one of the most studied clusters in the solar neighborhood, the evolution of the very low-mass members (M* < 0.25 M⊙) has not been fully addressed due to their faintness. Aims. Our goal is to verify if some young and very low-mass objects in the Orion Nebula Cluster show evidence of ongoing accretion using broadband VLT/X-shooter spectra. Methods. For each target, we determined the corresponding stellar parameters, veiling, observed Balmer jump, and accretion rates. Additionally, we searched for the existence of circumstellar disks through available on-line photometry. Results. We detected accretion activity in three young stellar objects in the Orion Nebula Cluster, two of them being in the very low-mass range. We also detected the presence of young transition disks with ages between 1 and 3.5 Myr.

The widest Hα survey of accreting protoplanets around nearby transition disks

Context. The mechanisms of planet formation are still under debate. We know little about how planets form, even if more than 4000 exoplanets have been detected to date. Recent investigations target the cot of newly born planets: the protoplanetary disk. At the first stages of their life, exoplanets still accrete material from the gas-rich disk in which they are embedded. Transitional disks are indeed disks that show peculiarities, such as gaps, spiral arms, and rings, which can be connected to the presence of substellar companions. Aims. To investigate what is responsible for these features, we selected all the known transitional disks in the solar neighborhood (<200 pc) that are visible from the southern hemisphere. We conducted a survey of 11 transitional disks with the SPHERE instrument at the Very Large Telescope. This is the largest Hα survey that has been conducted so far to look for protoplanets. The observations were performed with the Hα filter of ZIMPOL in order to target protoplanets that are still in the accretion stage. All the selected targets are very young stars, less than 20 Myr, and show low extinction in the visible. Methods. We reduced the ZIMPOL pupil stabilized data by applying the method of the angular spectral differential imaging (ASDI), which combines both techniques. The datacubes are composed of the Cnt_Hα and the narrow band filter Hα, which are taken simultaneously to permit the suppression of the speckle pattern. The principal component analysis method was employed for the reduction of the data. For each dataset, we derived the 5σ contrast limit and converted it in upper limits on the accretion luminosity. Results. We do not detect any new accreting substellar companions around the targeted transition disks down to an average contrast of 12 magnitudes at 0.′′2 from the central star. We have recovered the signal of the accreting M star companion around the star HD 142527. We have detected and resolved, for the first time in visible light, the quadruple system HD 98800. For every other system, we can exclude the presence of massive actively accreting companions, assuming that the accretion is not episodic and that the extinction is negligible. The mean accretion luminosity limit is 10−6 L⊙ at a separation of 0.′′2 from the host.

A study of accretion and disk diagnostics in the NGC 2264 cluster

Context. Understanding disk dissipation is essential for studying how planets form. Disk gaps and holes, which almost correspond to dust-free regions, are inferred from infrared observations of T Tauri stars (TTS), indicating the existence of a transitional phase between thick accreting disks and debris disks. Transition disks are usually referred to as candidates for newly formed planets. Aims. We searched for transition disk candidates belonging to NGC 2264. Using stellar and disk parameters obtained in the observational multiwavelength campaign CSI 2264, we characterized accretion, disk, and stellar properties of transition disk candidates and compared them to systems with a full disk and diskless stars. Methods. We modeled the spectral energy distribution (SED) of a sample of 401 TTS, observed with both CFHT equipped with MegaCam and IRAC instrument on the Spitzer, with Hyperion SED fitting code using photometric data from the U band (0.3 μm) to the Spitzer/MIPS 24 μm band. We used the SED modeling to distinguish transition disk candidates, full disk systems, and diskless stars. Results. We classified ∼52% of the sample as full disk systems, ∼41% as diskless stars, and ∼7% of the systems as transition disk candidates, among which seven systems are new transition disk candidates belonging to the NGC 2264 cluster. The sample of transition disk candidates present dust in the inner disk similar to anemic disks, according to the αIRAC classification, which shows that anemic disk systems can be candidate transition disks. We show that the presence of a dust hole in the inner disk does not stop the accretion process since 82% of transition disk candidates accrete and show Hα, UV excess, and mass accretion rates at the same level as full disk systems. We estimate the inner hole sizes, ranging from 0.1 to 78 AU, for the sample of transition disk candidates. In only ∼18% of the transition disk candidates, the hole size could be explained by X-ray photoevaporation from stellar radiation.