Temporal and chromatic variation of polarized scattered light in the outer disk of PDS 70

Abstract

PDS 70 stands out as the only system hosting a protoplanetary disk and two confirmed planets undergoing formation. It is a unique target for characterizing the dust in this type of disk. We aim to accurately measure the reflected polarized intensity and quantify the variability and asymmetry for PDS 70 across multiple epochs and wavelengths in the optical and near-infrared. We present new high-contrast polarimetric differential imaging observations of PDS 70, with the $N\_R$ filter on SPHERE/ZIMPOL. We combined the new observation with archival data of the VLT/SPHERE instrument, spanning five wavelengths ($N\_R$, $VBB$, $J$, $H$, and $Ks$) over seven epochs and eight years. For each observational epoch, we corrected the smearing effect due to finite instrument resolution, measured the azimuthal brightness profiles, and derived the intrinsic disk-integrated polarized reflectivity and the intrinsic brightness contrasts. With our homogeneous analysis of all available optical and near-infrared data sets of the disk around PDS 70, we find significant temporal variability of the integrated polarized reflectivity as well as the azimuthal brightness profile. This indicates variable shadowing on the outer disk by inner disk structures beyond the resolution limit of current imaging instruments. Despite these variabilities, we observe a systematic wavelength-dependent contrast between the near side and the far side of the inclined disk. These results underline the importance of considering both the shadowing effect from the inner disk and the surface geometry of the observed reflecting disk in the analysis and interpretation of observational data.