Dynamical Evidence of a Spiral Arm--Driving Planet in the MWC 758 Protoplanetary Disk

TL;DR

This study uses multi-epoch imaging to measure spiral arm pattern speeds in the MWC 758 disk, providing evidence for a planet-driven origin and ruling out gravitational instability as the cause.

Contribution

First direct measurement of spiral pattern speeds in MWC 758, supporting the presence of a planet-driving the spiral arms and distinguishing it from gravitational instability.

Findings

Spiral pattern speed is approximately 0.22 degrees per year.

The data suggests a planet at about 172 au from the star.

Time-varying shadowing effects likely originate from an inner disk.

Abstract

More than a dozen young stars host spiral arms in their surrounding protoplanetary disks. The excitation mechanisms of such arms are under debate. The two leading hypotheses -- companion-disk interaction and gravitational instability (GI) -- predict distinct motion for spirals. By imaging the MWC 758 spiral arm system at two epochs spanning ${\sim}5$ yr using the SPHERE instrument on the Very Large Telescope (VLT), we test the two hypotheses for the first time. We find that the pattern speeds of the spirals are not consistent with the GI origin. Our measurements further evince the existence of a faint "missing planet" driving the disk arms. The average spiral pattern speed is $0.\!^\circ22\pm0.\!^\circ03$ yr$^{-1}$, pointing to a driver at $172_{-14}^{+18}$ au around a $1.9$ $M_\odot$ central star if it is on a circular orbit. In addition, we witness time varying shadowing effects on a global scale that are likely originated from an inner disk.