Nucleation of ice particles below the snow line

Abstract

An increase in the total surface area of icy dust aggregates was numerically investigated. The temperature of icy dust aggregates in a protoplanetary disk changes through their vertical motion induced by turbulence. The ice becomes vapor if the maximum temperature exceeds the condensation temperature. The vapor molecules recondense when cooling proceeds. Depending on the cooling rate and the amount of the remaining aggregate, the vapor molecules form pure ice particles through homogeneous nucleation or recondense onto the remaining icy aggregates through heterogeneous nucleation. If homogeneous nucleation dominates, the total surface area substantially increases from the original value. The increase in the total surface area was determined for various ice species and vertical temperature distributions. H2O, NH3, and H2S ice particles can be formed through homogeneous nucleation. The total surface area is increased by a factor of up to 400. The increase in the total surface area can affect protoplanetary disk’s surface density and temperature distributions.