Predictions of dust continuum observations of circumplanetary disks with ngVLA: A case study of PDS 70 c

TL;DR

This study models dust emission from circumplanetary disks around forming planets, predicting ngVLA observations to detect and characterize these disks, which are crucial for moon formation.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed predictions of ngVLA's capability to observe and constrain the properties of circumplanetary disks around young gas giants.

Findings

Dust emission from PDS 70 c's CPD can be detected at 3 mm with ngVLA.

ngVLA can constrain the size and shape of the CPD with reasonable observation time.

Predicted flux densities suggest feasible detection at multiple wavelengths.

Abstract

A gas giant forms a small gas disk called a "circumplanetary disk (CPD)" around the planet during its gas accretion process. The small gas disk contains dust particles like those in a protoplanetary disk, and these particles could be the building material of large moons. A young T Tauri star PDS 70 has two gas accreting planets, and continuum emission from one of the forming planets, PDS 70 c, has been detected by ALMA Bands 6 and 7, which is considered as the dust thermal emission from its CPD. We reproduce the emission with both bands and predict how the dust emission will be observed by ngVLA by expanding the range of the wavelength from submillimeter to centimeter. We find that the flux density of the dust thermal emission can be detected with ngVLA at Band 6 (3 mm) and probably with Band 5 (7 mm) as well. We also find that the size and shape of the CPD can be constrained by observations of ngVLA Band 6 with reasonable observation time.