Spirals and Clumps in V960 Mon: Signs of Planet Formation via Gravitational Instability around an FU Ori Star?
The formation of giant planets has traditionally been divided into two pathways: core accretion and gravitational instability. However, in recent years, gravitational instability has become less favored, primarily due to the scarcity of observations of fragmented protoplanetary disks around young st...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ace186 |
| _version_ | 1797694701509279744 |
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| author | Philipp Weber Sebastián Pérez Alice Zurlo James Miley Antonio Hales Lucas Cieza David Principe Miguel Cárcamo Antonio Garufi Ágnes Kóspál Michihiro Takami Joel Kastner Zhaohuan Zhu Jonathan Williams |
| author_facet | Philipp Weber Sebastián Pérez Alice Zurlo James Miley Antonio Hales Lucas Cieza David Principe Miguel Cárcamo Antonio Garufi Ágnes Kóspál Michihiro Takami Joel Kastner Zhaohuan Zhu Jonathan Williams |
| author_sort | Philipp Weber |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The formation of giant planets has traditionally been divided into two pathways: core accretion and gravitational instability. However, in recent years, gravitational instability has become less favored, primarily due to the scarcity of observations of fragmented protoplanetary disks around young stars and the low occurrence rate of massive planets on very wide orbits. In this study, we present a SPHERE/IRDIS polarized light observation of the young outbursting object V960 Mon. The image reveals a vast structure of intricately shaped scattered light with several spiral arms. This finding motivated a reanalysis of archival Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array 1.3 mm data acquired just two years after the onset of the outburst of V960 Mon. In these data, we discover several clumps of continuum emission aligned along a spiral arm that coincides with the scattered light structure. We interpret the localized emission as fragments formed from a spiral arm under gravitational collapse. Estimating the mass of solids within these clumps to be of several Earth masses, we suggest this observation to be the first evidence of gravitational instability occurring on planetary scales. This study discusses the significance of this finding for planet formation and its potential connection with the outbursting state of V960 Mon. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:01:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f2c6a812164043cb9d47237d16aeabf7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-8205 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T03:01:38Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-f2c6a812164043cb9d47237d16aeabf72023-09-03T14:45:55ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Letters2041-82052023-01-019521L1710.3847/2041-8213/ace186Spirals and Clumps in V960 Mon: Signs of Planet Formation via Gravitational Instability around an FU Ori Star?Philipp Weber0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3354-6654Sebastián Pérez1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2953-755XAlice Zurlo2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5903-8316James Miley3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1575-680XAntonio Hales4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5073-2849Lucas Cieza5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2828-1153David Principe6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7939-377XMiguel Cárcamo7https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0564-8167Antonio Garufi8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4266-0643Ágnes Kóspál9https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7157-6275Michihiro Takami10https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9248-7546Joel Kastner11https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3138-8250Zhaohuan Zhu12https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3616-6822Jonathan Williams13https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5058-695XDepartamento de Física, Universidad de Santiago de Chile , Av. Victor Jara 3659, Santiago, Chile ; philipppweber@gmail.com; Millennium Nucleus on Young Exoplanets and their Moons (YEMS) , Chile; Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Astrophysics and Space Exploration (CIRAS), Universidad de Santiago de Chile , ChileDepartamento de Física, Universidad de Santiago de Chile , Av. Victor Jara 3659, Santiago, Chile ; philipppweber@gmail.com; Millennium Nucleus on Young Exoplanets and their Moons (YEMS) , Chile; Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Astrophysics and Space Exploration (CIRAS), Universidad de Santiago de Chile , ChileMillennium Nucleus on Young Exoplanets and their Moons (YEMS) , Chile; Núcleo de Astronomía, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Diego Portales , Av. Ejercito 441, Santiago, Chile; Escuela de Ingeniería Industrial, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Diego Portales , Av. Ejercito 441, Santiago, ChileJoint ALMA Observatory , Alonso de Córdova 3107, Vitacura, Santiago 763-0355, Chile; National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) , Los Abedules 3085, Office 701, Vitacura, Santiago, ChileNational Radio Astronomy Observatory , 520 Edgemont Rd., Charlottesville, VA 22903-2475, USAMillennium Nucleus on Young Exoplanets and their Moons (YEMS) , Chile; Núcleo de Astronomía, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Diego Portales , Av. Ejercito 441, Santiago, ChileMIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research , 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USAMillennium Nucleus on Young Exoplanets and their Moons (YEMS) , Chile; Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Astrophysics and Space Exploration (CIRAS), Universidad de Santiago de Chile , Chile; University of Santiago of Chile (USACH) , Faculty of Engineering, Computer Engineering Department, ChileINAF , Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Largo Enrico Fermi 5, I-50125 Firenze, ItalyKonkoly Observatory, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences , Eötvös Loránd Research Network (ELKH), Konkoly-Thege Miklós út 15-17, 1121 Budapest, Hungary; CSFK , MTA Centre of Excellence, Konkoly Thege Miklós út 15-17, 1121 Budapest, Hungary; ELTE Eötvös Loránd University , Institute of Physics, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/A, 1117 Budapest, Hungary; Max Planck Institute for Astronomy , Königstuhl 17, D-69117 Heidelberg, GermanyInstitute of Astronomy and Astrophysics , Academia Sinica, 11F of Astronomy-Mathematics Building, No.1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei 10617, Taiwan, R.O.C.School of Physics & Astronomy, Rochester Institute of Technology , 1 Lomb Memorial Dr., Rochester, NY 14623, USADepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nevada , Las Vegas, 4505 S. Maryland Pkwy., Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA; Nevada Center for Astrophysics, University of Nevada , Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USAInstitute for Astronomy, University of Hawai’i at Manoa , Honolulu, HI 96822, USAThe formation of giant planets has traditionally been divided into two pathways: core accretion and gravitational instability. However, in recent years, gravitational instability has become less favored, primarily due to the scarcity of observations of fragmented protoplanetary disks around young stars and the low occurrence rate of massive planets on very wide orbits. In this study, we present a SPHERE/IRDIS polarized light observation of the young outbursting object V960 Mon. The image reveals a vast structure of intricately shaped scattered light with several spiral arms. This finding motivated a reanalysis of archival Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array 1.3 mm data acquired just two years after the onset of the outburst of V960 Mon. In these data, we discover several clumps of continuum emission aligned along a spiral arm that coincides with the scattered light structure. We interpret the localized emission as fragments formed from a spiral arm under gravitational collapse. Estimating the mass of solids within these clumps to be of several Earth masses, we suggest this observation to be the first evidence of gravitational instability occurring on planetary scales. This study discusses the significance of this finding for planet formation and its potential connection with the outbursting state of V960 Mon.https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ace186Observational astronomyPlanet formationFU Orionis starsGravitational instability |
| spellingShingle | Philipp Weber Sebastián Pérez Alice Zurlo James Miley Antonio Hales Lucas Cieza David Principe Miguel Cárcamo Antonio Garufi Ágnes Kóspál Michihiro Takami Joel Kastner Zhaohuan Zhu Jonathan Williams Spirals and Clumps in V960 Mon: Signs of Planet Formation via Gravitational Instability around an FU Ori Star? The Astrophysical Journal Letters Observational astronomy Planet formation FU Orionis stars Gravitational instability |
| title | Spirals and Clumps in V960 Mon: Signs of Planet Formation via Gravitational Instability around an FU Ori Star? |
| title_full | Spirals and Clumps in V960 Mon: Signs of Planet Formation via Gravitational Instability around an FU Ori Star? |
| title_fullStr | Spirals and Clumps in V960 Mon: Signs of Planet Formation via Gravitational Instability around an FU Ori Star? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spirals and Clumps in V960 Mon: Signs of Planet Formation via Gravitational Instability around an FU Ori Star? |
| title_short | Spirals and Clumps in V960 Mon: Signs of Planet Formation via Gravitational Instability around an FU Ori Star? |
| title_sort | spirals and clumps in v960 mon signs of planet formation via gravitational instability around an fu ori star |
| topic | Observational astronomy Planet formation FU Orionis stars Gravitational instability |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ace186 |
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