CARMA interferometric observations of 2MASS J044427+2512: the first spatially resolved observations of thermal emission of a brown dwarf disk

TL;DR

This study presents the first spatially resolved thermal emission observations of a brown dwarf disk, revealing its size and grain properties, which inform models of disk evolution and brown dwarf formation.

Contribution

First high-resolution spatial imaging of a brown dwarf disk at 1.3 mm, constraining its size and dust grain characteristics.

Findings

Disk radius estimated between 15-30 AU for certain density profiles

Evidence for millimeter-sized or larger dust grains in the disk

Implications for dust evolution and brown dwarf formation models

Abstract

We present CARMA 1.3 mm continuum data of the disk surrounding the young brown dwarf 2MASS J044427+2512 in the Taurus molecular cloud. The high angular resolution of the CARMA observations (0.16 arcsec) allows us to spatially resolve for the first time the thermal emission from dust around a brown dwarf. We analyze the interferometric visibilities and constrain the disk outer radius adopting disk models with power-law radial profiles of the dust surface density. In the case of a power-law index equal to or lower than 1, we obtain a disk radius in the range of about 15 - 30 AU, while larger disks are inferred for steeper radial profiles. By combining this information on the disk spatial extent with the sub-mm spectral index of this source we find conclusive evidence for mm-sized grains, or larger, in this brown dwarf disk. We discuss the implications of our results on the models of dust evolution in proto-planetary disks and brown dwarf formation.