# A resolved and asymmetric ring of PAHs within the young circumstellar disk of IRS 48

## TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution interferometry and radiative transfer modeling to reveal a resolved, asymmetric PAH ring within IRS 48's young, dust-depleted disk, suggesting a planetary influence and revising the system's age.

## Contribution

It provides a new radiative transfer model incorporating PAHs, VSGs, and silicates, and revises the age and structure of IRS 48's disk with multi-epoch interferometric data.

## Key findings

- Discovery of a resolved PAH and VSG ring at 11-26 AU.
- Revised stellar age to 4 Myr, younger than previous estimates.
- Identification of a potential planet at 40 AU influencing disk structure.

## Abstract

For one decade, the spectral-type and age of the $\rho$ Oph object IRS-48 were subject to debates and mysteries. Modelling its disk with mid-infrared to millimeter observations led to various explanations to account for the complex intricacy of dust-holes and gas-depleted regions. We present multi-epoch high-angular-resolution interferometric near-infrared data of spatially-resolved emissions in its first 15AU, known to have very strong Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) emissions within this dust-depleted region. We make use of new Sparse-Aperture-Masking data to instruct a revised radiative-transfer model where SED fluxes and interferometry are jointly fitted. Neutral and ionized PAH, Very Small Grains (VSG) and classical silicates are incorporated into the model; new stellar parameters and extinction laws are explored. A bright (42L$_{\odot}$) central-star with A$_v$=12.5mag and R$_v$=6.5 requires less near-infrared excess: the inner-most disk at $\approx$1AU is incompatible with the data. The revised stellar parameters place this system on a 4 Myr evolutionary track, 4 times younger than previous estimations, in better agreement with the surrounding $\rho$ Oph region and disk-lifetimes observations. The disk-structure converges to a classical-grains outer-disk from 55AU combined with a fully resolved VSG\&PAH-ring, at 11-26 AU. We find two over-luminosities in the PAH-ring at color-temperatures consistent with the radiative transfer simulations; one follows a Keplerian circular orbit at 14AU. We show a depletion of a factor $\approx$5 of classical dust grains compared to VSG\&PAH: the IRS-48 disk is nearly void of dust-grains in the first 55 AU. A 3.5M$_{Jup}$ planet on a 40AU orbit qualitatively explains the new disk-structure.