Related papers: Probing the protoplanetary disk gas surface densit…
The outer (>30 AU) regions of the dusty circumstellar disk orbiting the ~2-5 Myr-old, actively accreting solar analog LkCa 15 are known to be chemically rich, and the inner disk may host a young protoplanet within its central cavity. To…
ALMA observations of line emission from planet forming discs have demonstrated to be an excellent tool to probe the internal disc kinematics, often revealing subtle effects related to important dynamical processes occurring in them, such as…
We compare line emission calculated from theoretical disk models with optical to sub-millimeter wavelength observational data of the gas disk surrounding TW Hya and infer the spatial distribution of mass in the gas disk. The model disk that…
Vertical gas flows, such as winds and meridional circulations, are natural outcomes of protoplanetary disk processes and play a critical role in the earliest stages of planet formation. We analyze vertical gas motions in 14 disks as part of…
The $\rm H_2$ mass of molecular clouds has traditionally been traced by the CO(J=1-0) rotational transition line. This said, CO is relatively easily photodissociated, and can also be destroyed by cosmic rays, thus rendering some fraction of…
We compare molecular gas traced by 12CO(2-1) maps from the HERACLES survey, with tracers of the recent star formation rate (SFR) across 30 nearby disk galaxies. We demonstrate a first-order linear correspondence between Sig_mol and Sig_SFR…
Protoplanetary disk mass is a key parameter controlling the process of planetary system formation. CO molecular emission is often used as a tracer of gas mass in the disk. In this study we consider the ability of CO to trace the gas mass…
CO is thought to be the main reservoir of volatile carbon in protoplanetary disks, and thus the primary initial source of carbon in the atmospheres of forming giant planets. However, recent observations of protoplanetary disks point towards…
Protoplanetary disks are thought to evolve viscously, where the disk mass - the reservoir available for planet formation - decreases over time as material is accreted onto the central star. Observations show a correlation between dust mass…
Observations of submillimeter lines of CO (up to J=6-5), HCO+, HCN (up to J=4-3) and their isotopes from circumstellar disks around low mass pre-main sequence stars are presented. The different line ratios and optical depths indicate that…
Protoplanetary disks around young stars are the sites of planet formation. While the dust mass can be estimated using standard methods, determining the gas mass - and thus the amount of material available to form giant planets - has proven…
We present scattered light images of the TW Hya disk performed with SPHERE in PDI mode at 0.63, 0.79, 1.24 and 1.62 micron. We also present H2/H3-band ADI observations. Three distinct radial depressions in the polarized intensity…
CO gas is detected in a significant number of debris discs, but its origin and evolution remains unclear. Key constraints are its mass and spectro-spatial distribution, which are coupled through optical depth and have only been analysed at…
We analyze images of BIMA 12CO (J = 1 --> 0), VLA HI, and Spitzer 3.6 and 24 \mum emission toward the edge-on galaxy NGC 891 and derive the radial and vertical distributions of gas and the radial distributions of stellar mass and recent…
Potential signatures of proto-planets embedded in their natal protoplanetary disk are radial gaps or cavities in the continuum emission in the IR-mm wavelength range. ALMA observations are now probing spatially resolved rotational line…
We present high-resolution $^{12}$CO and $^{13}$CO 2-1 ALMA observations, as well as optical and near-infrared spectroscopy, of the highly-inclined protoplanetary disk around SSTC2D J163131.2-242627. The spectral type we derive for the…
It remains unclear what mechanism is driving the evolution of protoplanetary disks. Direct detection of the main candidates, either turbulence driven by magnetorotational instability or magnetohydrodynamical disk winds, has proven…
We have developed a high resolution combined physical and chemical model of a protoplanetary disk surrounding a typical T Tauri star. Our aims were to use our model to calculate the chemical structure of disks on small scales…
In the era of high resolution submillimeter interferometers, it will soon be possible to observe the neutral circumstellar medium directly involved in gas giant planet (GGP) formation at physical scales previously unattainable. In order to…
The water snowline in circumstellar disks is a crucial component in planet formation, but direct observational constraints on its location remain sparse due to the difficulty of observing water in both young embedded and mature…