JWST/MIRI detection of a carbon-rich chemistry in a solar nebula analog

TL;DR

This study uses JWST/MIRI observations to identify a carbon-rich inner disk around a solar-mass star, revealing complex hydrocarbons and suggesting sublimation of carbon-rich grains as the origin of the chemistry, influenced by low accretion rates.

Contribution

First detection of a carbon-rich inner disk around a solar-mass star using JWST, linking hydrocarbon chemistry to grain sublimation and low accretion rates.

Findings

Detection of complex hydrocarbons C$_2$H$_2$ and C$_4$H$_2$ in the disk.

Carbon enrichment models best match observed column densities.

Low accretion rate extends radial mixing, enabling long-lived hydrocarbon chemistry.

Abstract

It has been proposed, and confirmed by multiple observations, that disks around low mass stars display a molecule-rich emission and carbon-rich disk chemistry as compared to their hotter, more massive solar counterparts. In this work, we present JWST Disk Infrared Spectral Chemistry Survey (JDISCS) MIRI-MRS observations of the solar-mass star DoAr 33, a low-accretion rate T Tauri star showing an exceptional carbon-rich inner disk. We report detections of H$_2$O, OH, and CO$_2$, as well as the more complex hydrocarbons, C$_2$H$_2$ and C$_4$H$_2$. Through the use of thermochemical models, we explore different spatial distributions of carbon and oxygen across the inner disk and compare the column densities and temperatures obtained from LTE slab model retrievals. We find a best match to the observed column densities with models that have carbon enrichment, and the retrieved emitting temperature and area of C$_2$H$_2$ with models that have C/O $=$ 2$-$4 inside the 500 K carbon-rich dust sublimation line. This suggests that the origin of the carbon-rich chemistry is likely due to the sublimation of carbon rich grains near the soot line. This would be consistent with the presence of dust processing as indicated by the detection of crystalline silicates. We propose that this long-lived hydrocarbon rich chemistry observed around a solar-mass star is a consequence of the unusually low M-star-like accretion rate of the central star, which lengthens the radial mixing timescale of the inner disk allowing the chemistry powered by carbon grain destruction to linger.