The detection of dust gap-ring structure in the outer region of the CR Cha protoplanetary disk

TL;DR

This study uses ALMA observations to identify a dust gap-ring structure and a gas temperature bump in the CR Cha protoplanetary disk, exploring potential planetary and dust accumulation mechanisms.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed ALMA imaging of dust and gas structures in CR Cha, proposing mechanisms for the observed gap-ring and temperature bump.

Findings

Detection of a dust gap-ring structure in the outer disk

Identification of a gas temperature bump around 130 au

Possible planet-induced gap and dust accumulation at pressure bump

Abstract

We observe the dust continuum at 225 GHz and CO isotopologue (12CO, 13CO, and C18O) J=2-1 emission lines toward the CR Cha protoplanetary disk using the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA). The dust continuum image shows a dust gap-ring structure in the outer region of the dust disk. A faint dust ring is also detected around 120 au beyond the dust gap. The CO isotopologue lines indicate that the gas disk is more extended than the dust disk. The peak brightness temperature of the 13CO line shows a small bump around 130 au while 12CO and C18O lines do not show. We investigate two possible mechanisms for reproducing the observed dust gap-ring structure and a gas temperature bump. First, the observed gap structure can be opened by a Jupiter mass planet using the relation between the planet mass and the gap depth and width. Meanwhile, the radiative transfer calculations based on the observed dust surface density profile show that the observed dust ring could be formed by dust accumulation at the gas temperature bump, that is, the gas pressure bump produced beyond the outer edge of the dust disk.