ALMA Observations of Proper Motions of the Dust Clumps in the Protoplanetary Disk MWC 758

TL;DR

This study uses ALMA observations to measure dust clump motions in the MWC 758 protoplanetary disk, revealing non-Keplerian dynamics and potential interactions with disk spirals, challenging conventional vortex theories.

Contribution

First direct measurement of dust clump proper motions in MWC 758, showing deviations from expected vortex behavior and suggesting interactions with disk spirals.

Findings

Dust clumps exhibit proper motions inconsistent with traditional vortex models.

Proper motions are near Keplerian velocities at specific radii.

Intensity profiles of dust clumps changed over four years.

Abstract

To study the dust dynamics in the dust trapping vortices in the protoplanetary disk around MWC~758, we analyzed the 1.3 mm continuum images of the MWC~758 disk obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in 2017 and 2021. We detect proper motions of 22 mas and 24 mas in the two dust clumps at radii of 0\farcs32 and 0\farcs54 in the disk on the plane of the sky, respectively. On the assumption that the dust clumps are located in the disk midplane, the velocities of the observed proper motions along the azimuthal direction of the inner and outer dust clumps are sub- and super-Keplerian, respectively, and both have angular velocities corresponding to the Keplerian angular velocity at a radius of $0\farcs46\pm0\farcs04$. This deviation from the Keplerian motion is not expected in the conventional theory of vortices formed by the Rossby wave instability. The observed non-Keplerian proper motions of the dust clumps are unlikely due to the disk warp and eccentricity, nor be associated with any predicted planets. The two dust clumps are likely spatially coincident with the infrared spirals. In addition, we detect the changes in the intensity profiles of the dust clumps over the four-year span. Therefore, we suggest that the observed proper motions are possibly due to changes in the density distributions in the dust clumps caused by their interaction with the spirals in the disk.