The inner structure of the TW Hya Disk as revealed in scattered light

TL;DR

This study reveals a structured inner disk in TW Hya with gaps at 30 and 80 AU, showing potential links between scattered light features and chemical transitions, advancing understanding of disk morphology and composition.

Contribution

We present high-resolution multi-wavelength HST images revealing disk gaps and propose a model linking these features to chemical condensation fronts.

Findings

Detected a clear inner disk edge at 40 AU across wavelengths

Modeled two gaps at 30 and 80 AU fitting surface brightness profiles

Gaps coincide with molecular condensation fronts, suggesting chemical influence

Abstract

We observe a significant change in the TW Hya disk interior to 40~AU via archival unpolarized multi-wavelength Hubble Space Telescope/STIS and NICMOS images with an inner working angle (IWA) of 0\farcs4 (22~AU). Our images show the outer edge of a clearing at every wavelength with similar behavior, demonstrating that the feature is structural, rather than due to some property of polarized light in the disk. We compare our observations to those taken by Akiyama et al. (2015) and Rapson et al. (2015), and discuss the spectral evolution of the disk interior to 80~AU. We construct a model with two gaps: one at 30~AU and one at 80~AU that fit the observed surface brightness profile but overpredicts the absolute brightness of the disk. Our models require an additional dimming to be consistent with observations, which we tentatively ascribe to shadowing. The gap structures seen in scattered light are spatially coincident with sub-mm detections of CO and N$_2$H$^+$, and are near expected condensation fronts of these molecular species, providing tentative evidence that the structures seen in scattered light may be correlated with chemical changes in the disk.