SearcharxivSearch

arXiv subjects

Suzan Edwards

Publications and source records attributed to Suzan Edwards.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

JWST/MIRI Reveals the Evolution from Molecular to Atomic Disk Winds

The evolution and dispersal of protoplanetary disks--governed by accretion, magnetically launched jets and winds, and photoevaporative winds--fundamentally shape planetary systems. Determining how these mass-loss processes co-evolve is crucial for constraining planet formation pathways. We analyze archival JWST/MIRI/IFU data of 72 inclined (i>40deg) mostly ClassII disks to identify and characterize spatially resolved jets and winds, focusing on [NeII] and H2 lines. Extended emission in H2 S(1), S(3), S(5), S(7) and/or [NeII] is detected toward 66 disks, revealing diverse morphologies. We develop a framework to identify conical H2 winds and high-velocity [NeII] jets perpendicular to the disk, detecting them toward 46 and 40 disks, respectively. All sources with [NeII] jets exhibit a corresponding wind traced in either H2 (85%) or [OI], establishing a connection between jets and winds. The detection fractions of [NeII]-jets and H2-winds correlate positively with mass accretion rate, with no dependence on disk inclination or stellar mass. Conversely, marginally resolved low-velocity [NeII] winds are found preferentially toward lower accretors. Among sources with H2 winds, detection of hotter winds traced by S(7) and S(5) declines more rapidly with decreasing accretion rate than the colder S(1) component. Comparison with high-resolution [OI]6300\text{\AA} spectroscopy reveals [OI] LVC and extended H2 wind detections preferentially toward moderate-to-high accretors (>~10^{-8.5}~Msun/yr), whereas lower accretors exhibit only [OI] and [NeII] winds. Together, these results indicate that atomic jets and atomic+molecular winds, consistent with an MHD disk-wind origin, dominate during early, actively accreting disk phases, while at lower accretion rates, jets weaken and winds become predominantly atomic.

astro-ph.EP

Class I/II Jets with JWST: Mass loss rates, Asymmetries, and Binary induced Wigglings

We present JWST NIRSpec spectro-imaging observations of jets from four edge-on protoplanetary disks that exhibit clear signatures of MHD disk winds. Bipolar jets are detected and spatially resolved in over 30 shock-excited forbidden lines, multiple Paschen and Brackett series lines of atomic hydrogen, and the high-energy excitation line of atomic helium (1.083 um). This helium line is the brightest jet-tracer towards HH 30 and FS TauB, which also exhibit asymmetric intensity between their red- and blue-shifted lobes in all tracers, including the [Fe II] and [He I] lines. Extinction maps reveal no significant differences across the lobes, suggesting an asymmetric jet-launching mechanism rather than environmental effects. Diagnostic line ratios yield consistent shock speeds of 50-60 km/s, jet ionization fractions of 0.1-0.2, and pre-shock electron densities of 1000 /cm^3. Combined with pixel-by-pixel electron density maps and [Fe II] line luminosities, we estimate jet mass-loss rates using three independent methods, averaging around a few 10^(-9) solar masses/yr. We estimate the accretion rates for these sources as 10 times the jet mass loss rates and find them to match well with the independently derived accretion estimates of other Class II sources in the Taurus star-forming region. Owing to JWST's high precision, we also investigate jet wiggling and find Tau 042021 to showcase the perfect case of mirror-symmetric wiggling, which can only be explained by the motion of the jet source around a stellar companion. Modeling this wiggling suggests Tau 042021 to host 0.33 and 0.07 solar masses binary at the center with binary separation of 1.35 au and an orbital period of 2.5 years.

astro-ph.EP

JWST/NIRSpec Reveals the Nested Morphology of Disk Winds from Young Stars

Radially extended disk winds could be the key to unlocking how protoplanetary disks accrete and how planets form and migrate. A distinctive characteristic is their nested morphology of velocity and chemistry. Here we report JWST/NIRSpec spectro-imaging of four young stars with edge-on disks in the Taurus star-forming region that demonstrate the ubiquity of this structure. In each source, a fast collimated jet traced by [Fe II] is nested inside a hollow cavity within wider lower-velocity H2 and, in one case, also CO ro-vibrational (v=1-0) emission. Furthermore, in one of our sources, ALMA CO(2-1) emission, paired with our NIRSpec images, reveals the nested wind structure extends further outward. This nested wind morphology strongly supports theoretical predictions for wind-driven accretion and underscores the need for theoretical work to assess the role of winds in the formation and evolution of planetary systems

astro-ph.EP

Twenty-Five Years of Accretion onto the Classical T Tauri Star TW Hya

Accretion plays a central role in the physics that governs the evolution and dispersal of protoplanetary disks. The primary goal of this paper is to analyze the stability over time of the mass accretion rate onto TW Hya, the nearest accreting solar-mass young star. We measure veiling across the optical spectrum in 1169 archival high-resolution spectra of TW Hya, obtained from 1998--2022. The veiling is then converted to accretion rate using 26 flux-calibrated spectra that cover the Balmer jump. The accretion rate measured from the excess continuum has an average of $2.51\times10^{-9}$~M$_\odot$~yr$^{-1}$ and a Gaussian distribution with a FWHM of 0.22 dex. This accretion rate may be underestimated by a factor of up to 1.5 because of uncertainty in the bolometric correction and another factor of 1.7 because of excluding the fraction of accretion energy that escapes in lines, especially Ly$\alpha$. The accretion luminosities are well correlated with He line luminosities but poorly correlated with H$\alpha$ and H$\beta$ luminosity. The accretion rate is always flickering over hours but on longer timescales has been stable over 25 years. This level of variability is consistent with previous measurements for most, but not all, accreting young stars.

astro-ph.SR

MagAO-X and HST high-contrast imaging of the AS209 disk at H$\alpha$

The detection of emission lines associated with accretion processes is a direct method for studying how and where gas giant planets form, how young planets interact with their natal protoplanetary disk and how volatile delivery to their atmosphere takes place. H$\alpha$ ($\lambda=0.656\,\mu$m) is expected to be the strongest accretion line observable from the ground with adaptive optics systems, and is therefore the target of specific high-contrast imaging campaigns. We present MagAO-X and HST data obtained to search for H$\alpha$ emission from the previously detected protoplanet candidate orbiting AS209, identified through ALMA observations. No signal was detected at the location of the candidate, and we provide limits on its accretion. Our data would have detected an H$\alpha$ emission with $F_\mathrm{H\alpha}>2.5\pm0.3 \times10^{-16}$ erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$, a factor 6.5 lower than the HST flux measured for PDS70b (Zhou et al., 2021). The flux limit indicates that if the protoplanet is currently accreting it is likely that local extinction from circumstellar and circumplanetary material strongly attenuates its emission at optical wavelengths. In addition, the data reveal the first image of the jet north of the star as expected from previous detections of forbidden lines. Finally, this work demonstrates that current ground-based observations with extreme adaptive optics systems can be more sensitive than space-based observations, paving the way to the hunt for small planets in reflected light with extremely large telescopes.

astro-ph.EP

A High-resolution Optical Survey of Upper Sco: Evidence for Coevolution of Accretion and Disk Winds

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) and photoevaporative winds are thought to play an important role in the evolution and dispersal of planet-forming disks. Here, we analyze high-resolution ($\Delta v \sim$ 7 kms$^{-1}$) optical spectra from a sample of 115 T Tauri stars in the $\sim 5-10$ Myr Upper Sco association and focus on the [O I]$\lambda$6300 and H$\alpha$ lines to trace disk winds and accretion, respectively. Our sample covers a large range in spectral type and we divide it into Warm (G0-M3) and Cool (later than M3) to facilitate comparison with younger regions. We detect the [O I]$\lambda$6300 line in 45 out of 87 upper sco sources with protoplanetary disks and 32 out of 45 are accreting based on H$\alpha$ profiles and equivalent widths. All [O I] $\lambda$6300 Upper Sco profiles have a low-velocity (centroid $< -30$ kms$^{-1}$, LVC) emission and most (36/45) can be fit by a single Gaussian (SC). The SC distribution of centroid velocities and FWHMs is consistent with MHD disk winds. We also find that the Upper Sco sample follows the same accretion luminosity$-$LVC [O I]$\lambda$6300 luminosity relation and the same anti-correlation between SC FWHM and WISE W3-W4 spectral index as the younger samples. These results indicate that accretion and disk winds coevolve and that, as inner disks clear out, wind emission arises further away from the star. Finally, our large spectral range coverage reveals that Cool stars have larger FWHMs normalized by stellar mass than Warm stars indicating that [O I]$\lambda$6300 emission arises closer in towards lower mass/lower luminosity stars.

astro-ph.SR

The Role of Disk Winds in the Evolution and Dispersal of Protoplanetary Disks

The assembly and architecture of planetary systems strongly depend on the physical processes governing the evolution and dispersal of protoplanetary disks. Since Protostars and Planets VI, new observations and theoretical insights favor disk winds as being one of those key processes. This chapter provides a comprehensive review of recent observations probing outflowing gas launched over a range of disk radii for a wide range of evolutionary stages, enabling an empirical understanding of how winds evolve. In parallel, we review theoretical advancements in both magnetohydrodynamic and photoevaporative disk wind models and identify predictions that can be confronted with observations. By linking theory and observations we critically assess the role of disk winds in the evolution and dispersal of protoplanetary disks. Finally, we explore the impact of disk winds on planet formation and evolution and highlight theoretical work, observations, and critical tests for future progress.

astro-ph.EP

The ODYSSEUS Survey. Motivation and First Results: Accretion, Ejection, and Disk Irradiation of CVSO 109

The Hubble UV Legacy Library of Young Stars as Essential Standards (ULLYSES) Director's Discretionary Program of low-mass pre-main-sequence stars, coupled with forthcoming data from ALMA and JWST, will provide the foundation to revolutionize our understanding of the relationship between young stars and their protoplanetary disks. A comprehensive evaluation of the physics of disk evolution and planet formation requires understanding the intricate relationships between mass accretion, mass outflow, and disk structure. Here we describe the Outflows and Disks around Young Stars: Synergies for the Exploration of ULLYSES Spectra (ODYSSEUS) Survey and present initial results of the classical T Tauri Star CVSO 109 in Orion OB1b as a demonstration of the science that will result from the survey. ODYSSEUS will analyze the ULLYSES spectral database, ensuring a uniform and systematic approach in order to (1) measure how the accretion flow depends on the accretion rate and magnetic structures, (2) determine where winds and jets are launched and how mass-loss rates compare with accretion, and (3) establish the influence of FUV radiation on the chemistry of the warm inner regions of planet-forming disks. ODYSSEUS will also acquire and provide contemporaneous observations at X-ray, optical, NIR, and millimeter wavelengths to enhance the impact of the ULLYSES data. Our goal is to provide a consistent framework to accurately measure the level and evolution of mass accretion in protoplanetary disks, the properties and magnitudes of inner-disk mass loss, and the influence of UV radiation fields that determine ionization levels and drive disk chemistry.

astro-ph.SR

S and VV Corona Australis: Spectroscopic Variability in Two Young Binary Star Systems

We used high-resolution near-infrared spectroscopy from the NIRSPEC instrument on the Keck II telescope, taken over multiple epochs spanning five years, to examine two young binary T Tauri star systems, S Corona Australis and VV Corona Australis. The stars in these 1-2" separation systems have optically thick circumstellar disks and high extinctions at optical and near-infrared wavelengths. Using a combination of new and archival data, we have determined the spectral types of all the stars in these two systems for the first time, examined the variable NIR veiling, measured the emission line equivalent widths, and created spectral energy distributions. They have similar spectral types (K7-M1) and are at approximately the same evolutionary stage, allowing comparison of the four stars in the two systems. We conclude that S CrA and VV CrA are young binary systems of stars bridging the Class I and Class II evolutionary stages, characterized by high accretion luminosities and variable emission lines.

astro-ph.SR

Compact Disks in a High Resolution ALMA Survey of Dust Structures in the Taurus Molecular Cloud

We present a high-resolution ($\sim0.''12$, $\sim16$ au, mean sensitivity of $50~\mu$Jy~beam$^{-1}$ at 225 GHz) snapshot survey of 32 protoplanetary disks around young stars with spectral type earlier than M3 in the Taurus star-forming region using Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA). This sample includes most mid-infrared excess members that were not previously imaged at high spatial resolution, excluding close binaries and highly extincted objects, thereby providing a more representative look at disk properties at 1--2 Myr. Our 1.3 mm continuum maps reveal 12 disks with prominent dust gaps and rings, 2 of which are around primary stars in wide binaries, and 20 disks with no resolved features at the observed resolution (hereafter smooth disks), 8 of which are around the primary star in wide binaries. The smooth disks were classified based on their lack of resolved substructures, but their most prominent property is that they are all compact with small effective emission radii ($R_{\rm eff,95\%} \lesssim 50$ au). In contrast, all disks with $R_{\rm eff,95\%}$ of at least 55 au in our sample show detectable substructures. Nevertheless, their inner emission cores (inside the resolved gaps) have similar peak brightness, power law profiles, and transition radii to the compact smooth disks, so the primary difference between these two categories is the lack of outer substructures in the latter. These compact disks may lose their outer disk through fast radial drift without dust trapping, or they might be born with small sizes. The compact dust disks, as well as the inner disk cores of extended ring disks, that look smooth at the current resolution will likely show small-scale or low-contrast substructures at higher resolution. The correlation between disk size and disk luminosity correlation demonstrates that some of the compact disks are optically thick at millimeter wavelengths.

astro-ph.SR

Double-peaked OI profile: a likely signature of the gaseous ring around KH 15D

KH 15D is a well-known spectroscopic binary because of its unique and dramatic photometric variability. The variability is explained by a circumbinary dust ring but the ring itself was never directly detected. We present a new interpretation of the double-peaked [O~{\scriptsize I}]\,$\lambda$6300 profiles as originating from the hot disk surface of KH 15D. By modeling these profiles, we measure emitting radii between $\sim$0.5--5 au, basically a gaseous ring very similar in radial extent to the dust ring inferred from modeling the system's photometric variability. We also discuss the possibility that external photoevaporation driven by UV photons from the nearby massive star HD~47887 has truncated the outer edge of the disk to the observed value.

astro-ph.SR

Kinematic links and the co-evolution of MHD winds, jets, and inner disks from a high-resolution optical [OI] survey

We present a survey of optical [OI] emission at 6300 \AA\ toward 65 TTauri stars at the spectral resolution of $\sim7$ km/s. Past work identified a highly blueshifted velocity component (HVC) tracing microjets, and a less blueshifted low-velocity-component (LVC) attributed to winds. We focus here on the LVC kinematics to investigate links between winds, jets, accretion, and disk dispersal. We track the behavior of four types of LVC components: a broad and narrow component ("BC" and "NC") in LVCs that are decomposed into two Gaussians, which typically have an HVC, and the single-Gaussian LVC profiles separated into those that have an HVC ("SCJ") and those that do not ("SC"). LVC centroid velocities and line widths correlate with HVC equivalent width and accretion luminosity, suggesting that LVC/winds and HVC/jets are kinematically linked and connected to accretion. The deprojected HVC velocity correlates with accretion luminosity, showing that faster jets come with higher accretion. BC and NC kinematics correlate and their blueshifts are maximum at $\sim 35^{\circ}$, suggesting a conical wind geometry with this semi-opening angle. Only SCs include $n_{13-31}$ up to $\sim3$ and their properties correlate with this infrared index, showing that [OI] emission recedes to larger radii as the inner dust is depleted, tracing less dense/hot gas and a decrease in wind velocity. All together, these findings support a scenario where optically thick, accreting inner disks launch radially-extended MHD disk winds that feed jets, and where inner disk winds recede to larger radii and jets disappear in concert with dust depletion.

astro-ph.HE

Gaps and Rings in an ALMA Survey of Disks in the Taurus Star-forming Region

Rings are the most frequently revealed substructure in ALMA dust observations of protoplanetary disks, but their origin is still hotly debated. In this paper, we identify dust substructures in 12 disks and measure their properties to investigate how they form. This subsample of disks is selected from a high-resolution ($\sim0.12''$) ALMA 1.33 mm survey of 32 disks in the Taurus star-forming region, which was designed to cover a wide range of sub-mm brightness and to be unbiased to previously known substructures. While axisymmetric rings and gaps are common within our sample, spiral patterns and high contrast azimuthal asymmetries are not detected. Fits of disk models to the visibilities lead to estimates of the location and shape of gaps and rings, the flux in each disk component, and the size of the disk. The dust substructures occur across a wide range of stellar mass and disk brightness. Disks with multiple rings tend to be more massive and more extended. The correlation between gap locations and widths, the intensity contrast between rings and gaps, and the separations of rings and gaps could all be explained if most gaps are opened by low-mass planets (super-Earths and Neptunes) in the condition of low disk turbulence ($\alpha=10^{-4}$). The gap locations are not well correlated with the expected locations of CO and N$_2$ ice lines, so condensation fronts are unlikely to be a universal mechanism to create gaps and rings, though they may play a role in some cases.

astro-ph.SR

A New Look at T Tauri Star Forbidden Lines: MHD Driven Winds from the Inner Disk

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) and photoevaporative winds are thought to play an important role in the evolution and dispersal of planet-forming disks. We report the first high-resolution ($\Delta v\sim$6\kms) analysis of [S II] $\lambda$4068, [O I] $\lambda$5577, and [O I] $\lambda$6300 lines from a sample of 48 T Tauri stars. Following Simon et al. (2016), we decompose them into three kinematic components: a high-velocity component (HVC) associated with jets, and a low-velocity narrow (LVC-NC) and broad (LVC-BC) components. We confirm previous findings that many LVCs are blueshifted by more than 1.5 kms$^{-1}$ thus most likely trace a slow disk wind. We further show that the profiles of individual components are similar in the three lines. We find that most LVC-BC and NC line ratios are explained by thermally excited gas with temperatures between 5,000$-$10,000 K and electron densities $\sim10^{7}-10^{8}$ cm$^{-3}$. The HVC ratios are better reproduced by shock models with a pre-shock H number density of $\sim10^{6}-10^{7}$ cm$^{-3}$. Using these physical properties, we estimate $\dot{M}_{\rm wind}/\dot{M}_{\rm acc}$ for the LVC and $\dot{M}_{\rm jet}/\dot{M}_{\rm acc}$ for the HVC. In agreement with previous work, the mass carried out in jets is modest compared to the accretion rate. With the likely assumption that the NC wind height is larger than the BC, the LVC-BC $\dot{M}_{\rm wind}/\dot{M}_{\rm acc}$ is found to be higher than the LVC-NC. These results suggest that most of the mass loss occurs close to the central star, within a few au, through an MHD driven wind. Depending on the wind height, MHD winds might play a major role in the evolution of the disk mass.

astro-ph.SR

Direct Measurement of Interstellar Extinction Toward Young Stars Using Atomic Hydrogen Lyman-$\alpha$ Absorption

Interstellar reddening corrections are necessary to reconstruct the intrinsic spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of accreting protostellar systems. The stellar SED determines the heating and chemical processes that can occur in circumstellar disks. Measurement of neutral hydrogen absorption against broad Lyman-$\alpha$ emission profiles in young stars can be used to obtain the total H I column density (N(H I)) along the line of sight. We measure N(H I) with new and archival ultraviolet observations from the Hubble Space Telescope ($HST$) of 31 classical T Tauri and Herbig Ae/Be stars. The H I column densities range from log$_{10}$(N(H I)) $\approx 19.6 - 21.1$, with corresponding visual extinctions of A$_{V}$ $= 0.02 - 0.72$ mag, assuming an R$_{V}$ of 3.1. We find that the majority of the H I absorption along the line of sight likely comes from interstellar rather than circumstellar material. Extinctions derived from new $HST$ blue-optical spectral analyses, previous IR and optical measurements, and new X-ray column densities on average overestimate the interstellar extinction toward young stars compared to the N(H I) values by $\sim 0.6$ mag. We discuss possible explanations for this discrepancy in the context of a protoplanetary disk geometry.

astro-ph.GA

Interpreting Near Infrared Hydrogen Line Ratios in T Tauri Stars

In accreting young stars one of the prominent spectral features in the near infrared is the Paschen and Brackett series in emission. We examine hydrogen line ratios for 16 classical T Tauri stars from SpeX spectra and and assess the trends with veiling and accretion. The observed line ratios are compared to two theoretical models for line formation: (1) Baker and Menzel's (1938) Case B for radiative ionization and recombination and (2) a set of local line excitation calculations designed to replicate the conditions in T Tauri winds and magnetic accretion columns (Kwan & Fischer 2011). While the comparison between Case B and observed line ratios implies a wide range in electron density and temperature among the hydrogen line formation regions in T Tauri stars, the predictions of the local line excitation models give consistent results across multiple diagnostics. Under the assumptions of the local line excitation calculations, we find that n_H in the hydrogen line formation region is constrained to 2x10^10 -- 2x10^11 cm^-3, where stars with higher accretion rates have densities at the higher end of this range. Because of uncertainties in extinction, temperature is not well delineated but falls within the range expected for collisional excitation to produce the line photons. We introduce new diagnostics for assessing extinction based on near infrared hydrogen line ratios from the local line excitation calculations.

astro-ph.SR

Understanding the origin of the [OI] low-velocity component from T Tauri stars

The formation time, masses, and location of planets are strongly impacted by the physical mechanisms that disperse protoplanetary disks and the timescale over which protoplanetary material is cleared out. Accretion of matter onto the central star, protostellar winds/jets, magnetic disk winds, and photoevaporative winds operate concurrently. Hence, disentangling their relative contribution to disk dispersal requires identifying diagnostics that trace different star-disk environments. Here, we analyze the low velocity component (LVC) of the Oxygen optical forbidden lines, which is found to be blueshifted by a few km/s with respect to the stellar velocity. We find that the [OI] LVC profiles are different from those of [NeII] at 12.81\mu m and CO at 4.7\mu m lines pointing to different origins for these gas lines. We report a correlation between the luminosity of the [OI] LVC and the accretion luminosity Lacc. We do not find any correlation with the X-ray luminosity, while we find that the higher is the stellar FUV luminosity, the higher is the luminosity of the [OI] LVC. In addition, we show that the [OI]6300\AA/5577\AA\ ratio is low (ranging between 1 and 8). These findings favor an origin of the [OI] LVC in a region where OH is photodissociated by stellar FUV photons and argue against thermal emission from an X-ray-heated layer. Detailed modeling of two spectra with the highest S/N and resolution shows that there are two components within the LVC: a broad, centrally peaked component that can be attributed to gas arising in a warm disk surface in Keplerian rotation (with FWHM between ~40 and ~60 km/s), and a narrow component (with FWHM ~10 km/s and small blueshifts of ~2 km/s) that may arise in a cool (<1,000 K) molecular wind.

astro-ph.SR

Hot Gas Lines in T Tauri Stars

For Classical T Tauri Stars (CTTSs), the resonance lines of N V, Si IV, and C IV, as well as the He II 1640 A line, act as diagnostics of the accretion process. Here we assemble a large high-resolution dataset of these lines in CTTSs and Weak T Tauri Stars (WTTSs). We present data for 35 stars: one Herbig Ae star, 28 CTTSs, and 6 WTTSs. We decompose the C IV and He II lines into broad and narrow Gaussian components (BC & NC). The most common (50 %) C IV line morphology in CTTSs is that of a low-velocity NC together with a redshifted BC. The velocity centroids of the BCs and NCs are such that V_BC > 4 * V_NC, consistent with the predictions of the accretion shock model, in at most 12 out of 22 CTTSs. We do not find evidence of the post-shock becoming buried in the stellar photosphere due to the pressure of the accretion flow. The He II CTTSs lines are generally symmetric and narrow, less redshifted than the CTTSs C IV lines, by ~10 km/sec. The flux in the BC of the He II line is small compared to that of the C IV line, consistent with models of the pre-shock column emission. The observations are consistent with the presence of multiple accretion columns with different densities or with accretion models that predict a slow-moving, low-density region in the periphery of the accretion column. For HN Tau A and RW Aur A, most of the C IV line is blueshifted suggesting that the C IV emission is produced by shocks within outflow jets. In our sample, the Herbig Ae star DX Cha is the only object for which we find a P-Cygni profile in the C IV line, which argues for the presence of a hot (10^5 K) wind. For the overall sample, the Si IV and N V line luminosities are correlated with the C IV line luminosities, although the relationship between Si IV and C IV shows large scatter about a linear relationship and suggests that TW Hya, V4046 Sgr, AA Tau, DF Tau, GM Aur, and V1190 Sco are silicon-poor.

astro-ph.SR