Abstract
Abstract Spatially resolved structures in protoplanetary disks hint at unseen planets. Previous imaging observations of the transitional disk around MWC 758 revealed an inner cavity, a ring-like outer disk, emission clumps, and spiral arms, all possibly generated by companions. We present ALMA dust continuum observations of MWC 758 at 0.87 mm wavelength with 43 × 39 mas angular resolution (6.9 × 6.2 au) and 20 μJy beam−1 rms. The central submillimeter emission cavity is revealed to be eccentric; once deprojected, its outer edge can be well fitted by an ellipse with an eccentricity of 0.1 and one focus on the star. The broad ring-like outer disk is resolved into three narrow rings with two gaps in between. The outer two rings tentatively show the same eccentricity and orientation as the innermost ring bounding the inner cavity. The two previously known dust emission clumps are resolved in both the radial and azimuthal directions, with radial widths equal to ∼4× the local scale height. Only one of the two spiral arms previously imaged in near-infrared (NIR) scattered light is revealed in ALMA dust emission, at a slightly larger stellocentric distance owing to projection effects. We also submit evidence of disk truncation at ∼100 au based on comparing NIR imaging observations with models. The spirals, the north clump, and the truncated disk edge are all broadly consistent with the presence of one companion exterior to the spirals at roughly 100 au.
Highlights
Planets form in protoplanetary disks surrounding newborn stars typically 1 to a few million yr old
The main new discoveries include the ellipticity of the central cavity, a triple-ring structure most noticeable toward the west, and the submillimeter continuum emission counterpart of the southern spiral arm imaged in scattered light
We present Cycle 5 ALMA continuum emission observations of the protoplanetary disk around MWC 758 at 0.87 mm with a beam size of 43 × 39 mas (6.8 × 6.2 au) and an rms noise level of 20 μJy beam−1
Summary
Planets form in protoplanetary disks surrounding newborn stars typically 1 to a few million yr old. Ren et al (2018) measured the pattern speed of the arms using multi-epoch scattered-light observations and concluded that the best-fit pattern speed corresponds to the Keplerian speed at r ∼ 90 au from the star This is consistent with the hypothesis that they are excited by a companion at that radius. The main new discoveries include the ellipticity of the central cavity, a triple-ring structure most noticeable toward the west, and the submillimeter continuum emission counterpart of the southern spiral arm imaged in scattered light. Both emission clumps are resolved in the radial direction for the first time
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