Evans, MG;
Ilee, JD;
Hartquist, TW;
Caselli, P;
Szucs, L;
Purser, SJD;
Boley, AC;
... Rawlings, JMC; + view all
(2017)
Gravitational instabilities in a protosolar-like disc - II. Continuum emission and mass estimates.
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
, 470
(2)
pp. 1828-1847.
10.1093/mnras/stx1365.
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Abstract
Gravitational instabilities (GIs) are most likely a fundamental process during the early stages of protoplanetary disc formation. Recently, there have been detections of spiral features in young, embedded objects that appear consistent with GI-driven structure. It is crucial to perform hydrodynamic and radiative transfer simulations of gravitationally unstable discs in order to assess the validity of GIs in such objects, and constrain optimal targets for future observations. We utilize the radiative transfer code LIME (Line modelling Engine) to produce continuum emission maps of a 0.17 M self-gravitating protosolar-like disc. We note the limitations of using LIME as is and explore methods to improve upon the default gridding. We use CASA to produce synthetic observations of 270 continuum emission maps generated across different frequencies, inclinations and dust opacities. We find that the spiral structure of our protosolar-like disc model is distinguishable across the majority of our parameter space after 1 h of observation, and is especially prominent at 230 GHz due to the favourable combination of angular resolution and sensitivity. Disc mass derived from the observations is sensitive to the assumed dust opacities and temperatures, and therefore can be underestimated by a factor of at least 30 at 850 GHz and 2.5 at 90 GHz. As a result, this effect could retrospectively validate GIs in discs previously thought not massive enough to be gravitationally unstable, which could have a significant impact on the understanding of the formation and evolution of protoplanetary discs.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Gravitational instabilities in a protosolar-like disc - II. Continuum emission and mass estimates |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1093/mnras/stx1365 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx1365 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | Science & Technology, Physical Sciences, Astronomy & Astrophysics, protoplanetary discs, stars: pre-main-sequence, submillimetre: planetary systems, submillimetre: stars, PROTOPLANETARY DISKS, CIRCUMSTELLAR DISK, GRAIN-GROWTH, THERMAL REGULATION, RADIATIVE-TRANSFER, ACCRETION DISCS, SPIRAL ARMS, DUST, SIMULATIONS, HYDRODYNAMICS |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Physics and Astronomy |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10042359 |
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