Gravitational instability in a planet-forming disk

Jessica Speedie (), Ruobing Dong (), Cassandra Hall, Cristiano Longarini, Benedetta Veronesi, Teresa Paneque-Carreño, Giuseppe Lodato, Ya-Wen Tang, Richard Teague and Jun Hashimoto
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Jessica Speedie: University of Victoria
Ruobing Dong: University of Victoria
Cassandra Hall: The University of Georgia
Cristiano Longarini: Università degli Studi di Milano
Benedetta Veronesi: Centre de Recherche Astrophysique de Lyon UMR5574
Teresa Paneque-Carreño: Leiden University
Giuseppe Lodato: Università degli Studi di Milano
Ya-Wen Tang: Academia Sinica
Richard Teague: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Jun Hashimoto: National Institutes of Natural Sciences

Nature, 2024, vol. 633, issue 8028, 58-62

Abstract: Abstract The canonical theory for planet formation in circumstellar disks proposes that planets are grown from initially much smaller seeds1–5. The long-considered alternative theory proposes that giant protoplanets can be formed directly from collapsing fragments of vast spiral arms6–11 induced by gravitational instability12–14—if the disk is gravitationally unstable. For this to be possible, the disk must be massive compared with the central star: a disk-to-star mass ratio of 1:10 is widely held as the rough threshold for triggering gravitational instability, inciting substantial non-Keplerian dynamics and generating prominent spiral arms15–18. Although estimating disk masses has historically been challenging19–21, the motion of the gas can reveal the presence of gravitational instability through its effect on the disk-velocity structure22–24. Here we present kinematic evidence of gravitational instability in the disk around AB Aurigae, using deep observations of 13CO and C18O line emission with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). The observed kinematic signals strongly resemble predictions from simulations and analytic modelling. From quantitative comparisons, we infer a disk mass of up to a third of the stellar mass enclosed within 1″ to 5″ on the sky.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07877-0

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