CORINOS V: Radiative transfer effects in protostellar ice observations

TL;DR

This study models radiative transfer effects in protostellar ice observations with JWST, revealing how line-of-sight and envelope structure influence ice feature interpretation and abundance estimates.

Contribution

Developed a new radiative transfer modeling framework to better interpret JWST protostellar ice spectra and assess observational biases.

Findings

Modeled H₂O and CO column densities align with previous studies.

High CO₂/H₂O ratio of 76% needed to match the 15 μm band.

Spectral differences highlight challenges in quantifying trace ices.

Abstract

Recent observations of protostars with the James Webb Space Telescope have revealed unprecedented chemical complexity from their ice absorption features. However, these spectra are likely influenced by radiative transfer effects, and there is little understanding of how this impacts our ability to identify, quantify, and interpret the observed ice features. We have developed a new modeling framework to investigate the radiative transfer through icy protostellar envelopes, and apply this to the IRAS 15398-3359 protostar observed by the JWST CORINOS program. The modeled H$_2$O and CO column densities are similar to previous empirical studies, but we require a high CO$_2$/H$_2$O ratio of 76% to match the optical depth of the 15 $\mu$m band. We use our modeled continuum to calculate a 6-10 $\mu$m optical depth spectrum, and see considerable differences compared to a simple polynomial continuum model, underscoring the challenges with quantifying trace ice species in this range. For this source, we find that the observed absorption predominantly originates along the viewing line of sight between 1000 - 2000 au, peaking at the transition from the outflow cavity to the envelope; the spectra are largely insensitive to absorption from ices in the outer envelope, which extends out to 20,000 au. Lastly, we show that depending on how the line of sight intersects the cavity, the apparent CO$_2$/H$_2$O and CO/H$_2$O column density ratios can be underestimated compared to the underlying ice abundance ratios. Together this provides important context for interpreting the ice constraints derived from JWST observations of protostars.