Early Planet Formation in Embedded Disks (eDisk) V: Possible Annular Substructure in a Circumstellar Disk in the Ced110 IRS4 System

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution ALMA observations to reveal a binary protostellar system with a potential ring-like substructure in its disk, providing insights into early planet formation processes.

Contribution

First detailed ALMA imaging of Ced110 IRS4 uncovers a possible annular substructure in a protostellar disk, advancing understanding of disk evolution in early star formation.

Findings

Detection of a binary system with a 250 au separation.

Identification of a potential ring-like substructure at 40 au.

Confirmation of a Keplerian disk within 120 au around IRS4A.

Abstract

We have observed the Class 0/I protostellar system Ced110 IRS4 at an angular resolution of $0.05''$ ($\sim$10 au) as a part of the ALMA large program; Early Planet Formation in the Embedded Disks (eDisk). The 1.3 mm dust continuum emission reveals that Ced110 IRS4 is a binary system with a projected separation of $\sim$250 au. The continuum emissions associated with the main source and its companion, named Ced110 IRS4A and IRS4B respectively, exhibit disk-like shapes and likely arise from dust disks around the protostars. The continuum emission of Ced110 IRS4A has a radius of $\sim$91.7 au ($\sim0.485''$), and shows bumps along its major axis with an asymmetry. The bumps can be interpreted as an shallow, ring-like structure at a radius of $\sim$40 au ($\sim0.2''$) in the continuum emission, as demonstrated from two-dimensional intensity distribution models. A rotation curve analysis on the C$^{18}$O and $^{13}$CO $J=2$-1 lines reveals the presence of a Keplerian disk within a radius of 120 au around Ced110 IRS4A, which supports the interpretation that the dust continuum emission arises from a disk. The ring-like structure in the dust continuum emission might indicate a possible, annular substructure in the surface density of the embedded disk, although the possibility that it is an apparent structure due to the optically thick continuum emission cannot be ruled out.