The warm gas atmosphere of the HD 100546 disk seen by Herschel (Evidence of a gas-rich, carbon-poor atmosphere?)

TL;DR

This study models the gas atmosphere of the HD 100546 disk using Herschel observations, revealing a warm, gas-rich, and carbon-poor environment that explains the observed molecular and atomic line emissions.

Contribution

The paper introduces an improved chemical-physical model of the protoplanetary disk atmosphere, incorporating new parameters to better match observed molecular and atomic line emissions.

Findings

High-J CO lines require a warm gas temperature much higher than dust temperature.

Models with high gas/dust ratio and low volatile carbon abundance best fit the observations.

The [CII] emission origin remains uncertain, but high gas/dust ratio models are preferred.

Abstract

(Abridged) Context. With the Herschel Space Observatory, lines of simple molecules (C+, O, and CO) have been observed in the atmosphere of protoplanetary disks. When combined with ground-based [CI], all principle forms of carbon can be studied. The absence of neutral carbon [CI], which is predicted by models to be strong, can then be interpreted together with [CII] and carbon monoxide. Aims. We study the gas temperature, excitation, and chemical abundance of the simple carbon-bearing species by the method of chemical-physical modeling. We explore the sensitivity of the lines to the entering parameters and constrain the region from which the line radiation emerges. Methods. Numerical models of the radiative transfer are used together with a chemical network simulation and a calculation of the gas energetics to obtain the gas temperature. We present our new model, which is based on our previous models but includes several improvements. Results. A model of the disk around the Herbig Be star HD 100546 is able to reproduce the CO ladder together with the atomic fine-structure lines of [OI] and either [CI] or [CII]. We find that the high-J lines of CO can only be reproduced by a warm atmosphere with Tgas>>Tdust. The high-J CO observable with PACS are dominated from regions within some tens of AU. Conclusions. Only a warm atmosphere with Tgas>>Tdust can reproduce the CO ladder. The CO ladder together with [O I] and the upper limit to [CI] can be reproduced by models with a high gas/dust ratio and a low abundance of volatile carbon. These models however produce too small amounts of [CII]. Models with a low gas/dust ratio and more volatile carbon also reproduce CO and [OI], are in closer agreement with observations of [CII], but overproduce [CI]. Due to the uncertain origin of the [CII] emission, we prefer the high gas/dust ratio models, indicating a low abundance of volatile carbon.