Astrogeology

The Empirical and Radiative Transfer Hybrid (EaRTH) Disk Model: Merging Analyses of Protoplanetary Dust Disk Mineralogy and Structure

By Keith Cowing
Status Report
astro-ph.EP
May 21, 2024
Filed under , , , , , , , , , ,
The Empirical and Radiative Transfer Hybrid (EaRTH) Disk Model: Merging Analyses of Protoplanetary Dust Disk Mineralogy and Structure
Different visualizations of MP Mus disk at the H band; Top and Middle: Normalized Qϕ images of MP Mus at the H band; (a) Image observed by SPHERE; (b) Image of best fit model; (c) Image with an outer ring; (d) Image with shadowed disk; (e) Qϕ × r 2 radial profiles of simulated images and observed SPHERE image at the H band normalized at peak intensity, plotted to emphasize the outer ring; (f) Comparison between MCFOST-simulated spectrum of original best fit, the best fit with a small-grain ring, optimal fits involving a shadowed disk, and the observed Spitzer IRS spectrum of MP Mus. — astro-ph.SR

Our understanding of how exoplanets form and evolve relies on analyses of both the mineralogy of protoplanetary disks and their detailed structures; however, these key complementary aspects of disks are usually studied separately.

We present initial results from a hybrid model that combines the empirical characterization of the mineralogy of a disk, as determined from its mid-infrared spectral features, with the MCFOST radiative transfer disk model, a combination we call the EaRTH Disk Model.

With the results of the mineralogy detection serving as input to the radiative transfer model, we generate mid-infrared spectral energy distributions (SEDs) that reflect both the mineralogical and structural parameters of the corresponding disk. Initial fits of the SED output by the resulting integrated model to Spitzer Space T elescope mid-infrared (IRS) spectra of the protoplanetary disk orbiting the nearby T Tauri star MP Mus demonstrate the potential advantages of this approach by revealing details like the dominance of micron-sized olivine and micron-sized forsterite in this dusty disk.

The simultaneous insight into disk composition and structure provided by the EaRTH Disk methodology should be directly applicable to the interpretation of mid-infrared spectra of protoplanetary disks that will be produced by the James Webb Space Telescope.

William Grimble, Joel Kastner, Christophe Pinte, Beth Sargent, David A. Principe, Annie Dickson-Vandervelde, Aurora Belen Aguayo, Claudio Caceres, Matthias R. Schreiber, Keivan G. Stassun

Comments: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 38 pages, 11 figures, 6 tables
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP); Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
Cite as: arXiv:2405.11061 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:2405.11061v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)
Submission history
From: William Grimble
[v1] Fri, 17 May 2024 19:28:44 UTC (1,898 KB)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.11061
Astrobiology

Keith Cowing

Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Station Payload manager/space biologist, Away Teams, Journalist, Lapsed climber, Synaesthete, Na’Vi-Jedi-Freman-Buddhist-mix, ASL, Devon Island and Everest Base Camp veteran, (he/him) 🖖🏻

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