Dust-trapping vortices and a potentially planet-triggered spiral wake in the pre-transitional disk of V1247 Orionis

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution ALMA imaging and hydrodynamics simulations to reveal dust-trapping vortices and a planet-triggered spiral wake in the pre-transitional disk of V1247 Orionis, providing insights into planet formation processes.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed ALMA imaging of vortex-like structures and a spiral wake in V1247 Orionis, supported by simulations, suggesting a planet's role in shaping disk morphology.

Findings

Detection of asymmetric ring and crescent structures consistent with vortex formation.

Identification of a one-armed spiral arm linked to a potential planet.

Observation of excess line emission indicating increased disk scale-height.

Abstract

The radial drift problem constitutes one of the most fundamental problems in planet formation theory, as it predicts particles to drift into the star before they are able to grow to planetesimal size. Dust-trapping vortices have been proposed as a possible solution to this problem, as they might be able to trap particles over millions of years, allowing them to grow beyond the radial drift barrier. Here, we present ALMA 0.04"-resolution imaging of the pre-transitional disk of V1247 Orionis that reveals an asymmetric ring as well as a sharply-confined crescent structure, resembling morphologies seen in theoretical models of vortex formation. The asymmetric ring (at 0.17"=54 au separation from the star) and the crescent (at 0.38"=120 au) seem smoothly connected through a one-armed spiral arm structure that has been found previously in scattered light. We propose a physical scenario with a planet orbiting at $\sim0.3$"$\approx$100 au, where the one-armed spiral arm detected in polarised light traces the accretion stream feeding the protoplanet. The dynamical influence of the planet clears the gap between the ring and the crescent and triggers two vortices that trap mm-sized particles, namely the crescent and the bright asymmetry seen in the ring. We conducted dedicated hydrodynamics simulations of a disk with an embedded planet, which results in similar spiral-arm morphologies as seen in our scattered light images. At the position of the spiral wake and the crescent we also observe $^{12}$CO (3-2) and H$^{12}$CO$^{+}$ (4-3) excess line emission, likely tracing the increased scale-height in these disk regions.