ALMA Observations of the Protostar L1527 IRS: Probing Details of the Disk and the Envelope Structures

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution ALMA observations to analyze the disk and envelope structures of the protostar L1527 IRS, revealing a Keplerian disk with a radius of ~74 AU, a density jump at the disk-envelope boundary, and insights into mass accretion processes.

Contribution

It provides the first high-resolution ALMA analysis of L1527 IRS, clearly identifying the Keplerian disk, density contrast, and detailed disk-envelope structure, advancing understanding of early protostellar evolution.

Findings

Keplerian disk radius ~74 AU

Density jump factor of ~5 between disk and envelope

Disk in hydrostatic equilibrium and consistent with kinematic estimates

Abstract

We have newly observed the Class 0/I protostar L1527 IRS using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) during its Cycle 1 in 220 GHz dust continuum and C18O (J=2-1) line emissions with a ~2 times higher angular resolution (~0.5") and ~4 times better sensitivity than our ALMA Cycle 0 observations. Continuum emission shows elongation perpendicular to the associated outflow, with a deconvolved size of 0.53"x0.15". C18O emission shows similar elongation, indicating that both emissions trace the disk and the flattened envelope surrounding the protostar. The velocity gradient of the C18O emission along the elongation due to rotation of the disk/envelope system is re-analyzed, identifying Keplerian rotation proportional to r^-0.5 more clearly than the Cycle 0 observations. The Keplerian-disk radius and the dynamical stellar mass are kinematically estimated to be ~74 AU and ~0.45 Mo, respectively. The continuum visibility is fitted by models without any annulus averaging, revealing that the disk is in hydrostatic equilibrium. The best-fit model also suggests a density jump by a factor of ~5 between the disk and the envelope, suggesting that disks around protostars can be geometrically distinguishable from the envelope from a viewpoint of density contrast. Importantly, the disk radius geometrically identified with the density jump is consistent with the radius kinematically estimated. Possible origin of the density jump due to the mass accretion from the envelope to the disk is discussed. C18O observations can be reproduced by the same geometrical structures derived from the dust observations, with possible C18O freeze-out and localized C18O desorption.