Dust Continuum Images Research Articles

Spatially resolved dust properties and quasar-galaxy decomposition of a hyper-luminous infrared galaxy at z = 4.4

ABSTRACT We report spatially resolved dust properties of the quasar host galaxy BRI1335−0417 at redshift z = 4.4 constrained by the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimetre Array observations. The dust temperature map, derived from a greybody fit to rest frame 90 and 161 μm continuum images, shows a steep increase towards the centre, reaching 57.1 ± 0.3 K and a flat median profile at the outer regions of ∼38 K. Image decomposition analysis reveals the presence of a point source in both dust continuum images spatially coincident with the highest temperature peak and the optical quasar position, which we attribute to warm dust heated by an active galactic nucleus (AGN). We show that a model including this warm component along with cooler dust heated by star formation describes the global spectral energy distribution better than a single-component model, with dust temperatures of 87.1$^{+34.1}_{-18.3}$ K (warm component) and 52.6$^{+10.3}_{-11.0}$ K (cold component). The star-formation rate (SFR) estimated from the cold dust component is $1700_{-400}^{+500}\ \mathrm{M}_\odot$ yr−1, a factor of three smaller than previous estimates due to a large AGN contribution ($53^{+14}_{-15}$ per cent). The unresolved warm dust component also explains the steep temperature gradient, as the temperature profile derived after the point source subtraction is flat. The point source subtraction also reduces the estimated central SFR surface density ΣSFR by over a factor of three. With this correction, spatially resolved measurements of ΣSFR and the surface gas mass density Σgas form a roughly linear sequence in the Kennicutt–Schmidt diagram with a constant gas depletion time of 50–200 Myr. The demonstrated AGN-host galaxy decomposition reveals the importance of spatially resolved data for accurate measurements of quasar host galaxy properties, including dust temperature, SFRs, and size.

ALMA Survey of Orion Planck Galactic Cold Clumps (ALMASOP): Density Structure of Centrally Concentrated Prestellar Cores from Multiscale Observations

Starless cores represent the initial stage of evolution toward (proto)star formation, and a subset of them, known as prestellar cores, with high density (∼ 106 cm−3 or higher) and being centrally concentrated are expected to be embryos of (proto)stars. Determining the density profile of prestellar cores therefore provides an important opportunity to gauge the initial conditions of star formation. In this work, we perform rigorous modeling to estimate the density profiles of three nearly spherical prestellar cores among a sample of five highly dense cores detected by our recent observations. We employed multiscale observational data of the (sub)millimeter dust continuum emission, including those obtained by SCUBA-2 on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope with a resolution of ∼ 5600 au and by multiple Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array observations with a resolution as high as ∼ 480 au. We are able to consistently reproduce the observed multiscale dust continuum images of the cores with a simple prescribed density profile, which bears an inner region of flat density and an r −2 profile toward the outer region. By utilizing the peak density and the size of the inner flat region as a proxy for the dynamical stage of the cores, we find that the three modeled cores are most likely unstable and prone to collapse. The sizes of the inner flat regions, as compact as ∼ 500 au, signify them as being the highly evolved prestellar cores rarely found to date.

PASSAGES: the Large Millimeter Telescope and ALMA observations of extremely luminous high-redshift galaxies identified by the Planck

ABSTRACT The Planck All-Sky Survey to Analyze Gravitationally-lensed Extreme Starbursts project aims to identify a population of extremely luminous galaxies using the Planck all-sky survey and to explore the nature of their gas fuelling, induced starburst, and the resulting feedback that shape their evolution. Here, we report the identification of 22 high-redshift luminous dusty star-forming galaxies (DSFGs) at z = 1.1–3.3 drawn from a candidate list constructed using the Planck Catalogue of Compact Sources and Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer all-sky survey. They are confirmed through follow-up dust continuum imaging and CO spectroscopy using AzTEC and the Redshift Search Receiver on the Large Millimeter Telescope Alfonso Serrano. Their apparent infrared luminosities span (0.1–3.1) × 1014 L⊙ (median of 1.2 × 1014 L⊙), making them some of the most luminous galaxies found so far. They are also some of the rarest objects in the sky with a source density of ≲0.01 deg−2. Our Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array 1.1 mm continuum observations with θ ≈ 0.4 arcsec resolution show clear ring or arc morphologies characteristic of strong lensing. Their lensing-corrected luminosity of LIR ≳ 1013 L⊙ (star-formation rate ≳ 103 M⊙ yr−1) indicates that they are the magnified versions of the most intrinsically luminous DSFGs found at these redshifts. Our spectral energy distribution analysis finds little detectable active galactic nucleus (AGN) activity despite their enormous luminosity, and any AGN activity present must be extremely heavily obscured.

ALMA constraints on assembly of core accretion planets

ABSTRACT Resolved dust continuum and CO line ALMA imaging, and in some cases detection of H α emission, hint that young massive planets are abundant at wide separations in protoplanetary discs. Here we show how these observations can probe the runaway phase of planetary growth in the Core Accretion theory. Planets in this phase have the right range of masses to account for the predominantly moderate contrast gaps and rings seen in ALMA observations. However, we find that these planets gain mass and migrate inward very rapidly. As a result, the phase when they could produce gaps with properties similar to those observed is very short, i.e. tgap ≲ 0.1 Myr, independently of the disc viscosity parameter. This would require many tens to hundreds of gas giant planets to be born per ALMA system, violating the available mass budget of solids in realistic discs. This also predicts preponderance of discs with very wide gaps or complete inner disc holes, which is not observed. We show that suppression of both planet accretion and migration by a factor of at least ten is a possible solution to these serious problems. Future population synthesis models of planet formation should aim to address both exoplanetary data of older disc-less planetary systems and ALMA discs with embedded planets in one framework.

Significant Molecular Gas Deficiencies in Star-forming Cluster Galaxies at z ∼ 1.4

Abstract We present the average gas properties derived from Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) Band 6 dust continuum imaging of 126 massive (log M ⋆/M ⊙ ≳ 10.5), star-forming cluster galaxies across 11 galaxy clusters at z = 1–1.75. Using stacking analysis on the ALMA images, combined with UV–far-infrared data, we quantify the average infrared spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and gas properties (molecular gas masses, M mol;gas depletion timescales, τ depl; and gas fractions, fgas) as functions of cluster-centric radius and properties including stellar mass and distance from the main sequence. We find a significant dearth in the ALMA fluxes relative to that expected in the field—with correspondingly low M mol and fgas, and short τ depl—with weak or no dependence on cluster-centric radius out to twice the virial radius. The Herschel+ALMA SEDs indicate warmer dust temperatures (∼36–38 K) than coeval field galaxies (∼30 K). We perform a thorough comparison of the cluster galaxy gas properties to field galaxies, finding deficits of 2–3×, 3–4×, and 2–4× in M mol, τ depl, and fgas compared to coeval field stacks, and larger deficits compared to field scaling relations built primarily on detections. The cluster gas properties derived here are comparable with stacking analyses of (proto-)clusters in the literature, and at odds with findings of field-like τ depl and enhanced fgas reported using CO and dust continuum detections. Our analysis suggests that environment has a considerable impact on gas properties out to large radii, in good agreement with cosmological simulations which project that gas depletion begins beyond the virial radius and largely completes by first passage of the cluster core.

Near-infrared Polarization from Unresolved Disks around Brown Dwarfs and Young Stellar Objects

Abstract Wide-field near-infrared (NIR) polarimetry was used to examine disk systems around two brown dwarfs (BDs) and two young stellar objects (YSOs) embedded in the Heiles Cloud 2 (HCl2) dark molecular cloud in Taurus as well as numerous stars located behind HCl2. Inclined disks exhibit intrinsic NIR polarization due to scattering of photospheric light, which is detectable even for unresolved systems. After removing polarization contributions from magnetically aligned dust in HCl2 determined from the background star information, significant intrinsic polarization was detected from the disk systems of one BD (ITG 17) and both YSOs (ITG 15, ITG 25), but not from the other BD (2M0444). The ITG 17 BD shows good agreement of the disk orientation inferred from the NIR and from published Atacama Large Millimeter/submillieter Array dust continuum imaging. ITG 17 was also found to reside in a 5200 au wide binary (or hierarchical quad star system) with the ITG 15 YSO disk system. The inferred disk orientations from the NIR for ITG 15 and ITG 17 are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the local magnetic field direction. The multiplicity of the system and the large BD disk nature could have resulted from formation in an environment characterized by misalignment of the magnetic field and the protostellar disks.

PGNets: planet mass prediction using convolutional neural networks for radio continuum observations of protoplanetary discs

ABSTRACT We developed convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to rapidly and directly infer the planet mass from radio dust continuum images. Substructures induced by young planets in protoplanetary discs can be used to infer the potential young planets’ properties. Hydrodynamical simulations have been used to study the relationships between the planet’s properties and these disc features. However, these attempts either fine-tuned numerical simulations to fit one protoplanetary disc at a time, which was time consuming, or azimuthally averaged simulation results to derive some linear relationships between the gap width/depth and the planet mass, which lost information on asymmetric features in discs. To cope with these disadvantages, we developed Planet Gap neural Networks (PGNets) to infer the planet mass from two-dimensional images. We first fit the gridded data in Zhang et al. as a classification problem. Then, we quadrupled the data set by running additional simulations with near-randomly sampled parameters, and derived the planet mass and disc viscosity together as a regression problem. The classification approach can reach an accuracy of 92 per cent, whereas the regression approach can reach 1σ as 0.16 dex for planet mass and 0.23 dex for disc viscosity. We can reproduce the degeneracy scaling α ∝ $M_\mathrm{ p}^3$ found in the linear fitting method, which means that the CNN method can even be used to find degeneracy relationship. The gradient-weighted class activation mapping effectively confirms that PGNets use proper disc features to constrain the planet mass. We provide programs for PGNets and the traditional fitting method from Zhang et al., and discuss each method’s advantages and disadvantages.

Misaligned Circumstellar Disks and Orbital Motion of the Young Binary XZ Tau

Abstract We report our analyses of the multi-epoch (2015–2017) Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) archival data of the Class II binary system XZ Tau at Bands 3, 4, and 6. The millimeter dust-continuum images show compact, unresolved (r ≲ 15 au) circumstellar disks (CSDs) around the individual binary stars, XZ Tau A and B, with a projected separation of ∼39 au. The 12CO (2–1) emission associated with those CSDs traces the Keplerian rotations, whose rotational axes are misaligned with each other (P.A. ∼ −5° for XZ Tau A and ∼130° for XZ Tau B). The similar systemic velocities of the two CSDs (V LSR ∼ 6.0 km s−1) suggest that the orbital plane of the binary stars is close to the plane of the sky. From the multi-epoch ALMA data, we have also identified the relative orbital motion of the binary. Along with the previous NIR data, we found that the elliptical orbit (e = 0.742 − 0.034 + 0.025 , a = 0 .″ 172 − 0 .″ 003 + 0 .″ 002 , and ω = − 54 .° 2 − 4 .° 7 + 2 .° 0 ) is preferable to the circular orbit. Our results suggest that the two CSDs and the orbital plane of the XZ Tau system are all misaligned with each other, and possible mechanisms to produce such a configuration are discussed. Our analyses of the multi-epoch ALMA archival data demonstrate the feasibility of time-domain science with ALMA.

Estimate on Dust Scale Height from the ALMA Dust Continuum Image of the HD 163296 Protoplanetary Disk

Abstract We aim at estimating the dust scale height of protoplanetary disks from millimeter continuum observations. First, we present a general expression of intensity of a ring in a protoplanetary disk and show that we can constrain the dust scale height by the azimuthal intensity variation. Then, we apply the presented methodology to the two distinct rings at 68 au and at 100 au of the protoplanetary disk around HD 163296. We constrain the dust scale height by comparing the high-resolution millimeter dust continuum image obtained in the Disk Substructures at High Angular Resolution Project (DSHARP) with radiative transfer simulations using RADMC-3D. We find that h d/h g > 0.84 at the inner ring and h d/h g < 0.11 at the outer ring with 3σ uncertainties, where h d is the dust scale height and h g is the gas scale height. This indicates that the dust is flared at the inner ring and settled at the outer ring. We further constrain the ratio of the turbulence parameter α to the gas-to-dust-coupling parameter St from the derived dust scale height; α/St > 2.4 at the inner ring, and α/St < 1.1 × 10 − 2 at the outer ring. This result shows that the turbulence is stronger or the dust is smaller at the inner ring than at the outer ring.

ALMA Observation of the Protoplanetary Disk around WW Cha: Faint Double-peaked Ring and Asymmetric Structure

Abstract We present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Band 6 observations of dust continuum emission of the disk around WW Cha. The dust continuum image shows a smooth disk structure with a faint (low-contrast) dust ring, extending from ∼40 au to ∼70 au, not accompanied by any gap. We constructed the simple model to fit the visibility of the observed data by using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method and found that the bump (we call the ring without the gap the bump) has two peaks at 40 au and 70 au. The residual map between the model and observation indicates asymmetric structures at the center and the outer region of the disk. These asymmetric structures are also confirmed by model-independent analysis of the imaginary part of the visibility. The asymmetric structure at the outer region is consistent with a spiral observed by SPHERE. To constrain physical quantities of the disk (dust density and temperature), we carried out radiative transfer simulations. We found that the midplane temperature around the outer peak is close to the freezing temperature of CO on water ice (∼30 K). The temperature around the inner peak is about 50 K, which is close to the freezing temperature of H2S and also close to the sintering temperature of several species. We also discuss the size distribution of the dust grains using the spectral index map obtained within the Band 6 data.

What did the seahorse swallow? APEX 170 GHz observations of the chemical conditions in the Seahorse infrared dark cloud

Context.Infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) are useful target sources for the studies of molecular cloud substructure evolution and early stages of star formation. Determining the chemical composition of IRDCs helps to constrain the initial conditions and timescales (via chemical clocks) of star formation in these often filamentary, dense interstellar clouds.Aims.We aim to determine the fractional abundances of multiple different molecular species in the filamentary IRDC G304.74+01.32, nicknamed the Seahorse IRDC, and to search for relationships between the abundances and potential evolutionary trends.Methods.We used the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX) telescope to observe spectral lines occurring at about 170 GHz frequency towards 14 positions along the full extent of the Seahorse filament. The sample is composed of five clumps that appear dark in the mid-IR, eight clumps that are associated with mid-IR sources, and one clump that is already hosting an H IIregion and is, hence, likely to be in the most advanced stage of evolution of all the target sources. We also employed our previous 870μm dust continuum imaging data of the Seahorse.Results.Six spectral line transitions were detected (≥3σ) altogether, namely, SO(NJ= 44−33), H13CN(J= 2−1), H13CO+(J= 2−1), SiO(J= 4−3), HN13C(J= 2−1), and C2H(N= 2−1). While SO, H13CO+, and HN13C were detected in every source, the detection rates for C2H and H13CN were 92.9 and 85.7%, respectively. Only one source (SMM 3) showed detectable SiO emission (7.1% detection rate). Three clumps (SMM 5, 6, and 7) showed the SO, H13CN, H13CO+, HN13C, and C2H lines in absorption. Of the detected species, C2H was found to be the most abundant one with respect to H2(a few times 10−9on average), while HN13C was found to be the least abundant species (a few times 10−11). We found three positive correlations among the derived molecular abundances, of which those between C2H and HN13C and HN13C and H13CO+are the most significant (correlation coefficientr≃ 0.9). The statistically most significant evolutionary trends we uncovered are the drops in the C2H abundance and in the [HN13C]∕[H13CN] ratio as the clump evolves from an IR dark stage to an IR bright stage and then to an H IIregion.Conclusions.The absorption lines detected towards SMM 6 and SMM 7 could arise from continuum radiation from an embedded young stellar object and an extragalactic object seen along the line of sight. However, the cause of absorption lines in the IR dark clump SMM 5 remains unclear. The correlations we found between the different molecular abundances can be understood as arising from the gas-phase electron (ionisation degree) and atomic carbon abundances. With the exception of H13CN and H13CO+, the fractional abundances of the detected molecules in the Seahorse are relatively low compared to those in other IRDC sources. The [C2H] evolutionary indicator we found is in agreement with previous studies, and can be explained by the conversion of C2H to other species (e.g. CO) when the clump temperature rises, especially after the ignition of a hot molecular core in the clump. The decrease of [HN13C]∕[H13CN] as the clump evolves is also likely to reflect the increase in the clump temperature, which leads to an enhanced formation of HCN and its13C isotopologue. Both single-dish and high-resolution interferometric imaging of molecular line emission (or absorption) of the Seahorse filament are required to understand the large-scale spatial distribution of the gas and to search for possible hot, high-mass star-forming cores in the cloud.

Planet-induced Vortices with Dust Coagulation in Protoplanetary Disks

Abstract In this work, we study how the dust coagulation/fragmentation will influence the evolution and observational appearances of vortices induced by a massive planet embedded in a low-viscosity disk by performing global 2D high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations. Within the vortex, due to its higher gas surface density and steeper pressure gradients, dust coagulation, fragmentation, and drift (to the vortex center) are all quite efficient, producing dust particles ranging from 1 μm to ∼1.0 cm, as well as an overall high dust-to-gas ratio (above unity). In addition, the dust size distribution is quite nonuniform inside the vortex, with the mass-weighted average dust size at the vortex center (∼4.0 mm) being a factor of ∼10 larger than other vortex regions. Both large (∼millimeter) and small (tens of microns) particles contribute strongly to affect the gas motion within the vortex. As such, we find that the inclusion of dust coagulation has a significant impact on the vortex lifetime and the typical vortex lifetime is about 1000 orbits. After the initial gaseous vortex is destroyed, the dust spreads into a ring with a few remaining smaller gaseous vortices with a high dust concentration and a large maximum size (∼millimeter). At late time, the synthetic dust continuum images for the coagulation case show as a ring inlaid with several hot spots at the 1.33 mm band, while only distinct hot spots remain at 7.0 mm.

The Detection of Dust Gap-ring Structure in the Outer Region of the CR Cha Protoplanetary Disk

Abstract We observe the dust continuum at 225 GHz and CO isotopologue (12CO, 13CO, and C18O) J = 2–1 emission lines toward the CR Cha protoplanetary disk using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. The dust continuum image shows a dust gap-ring structure in the outer region of the dust disk. A faint dust ring is also detected around 120 au beyond the dust gap. The CO isotopologue lines indicate that the gas disk is more extended than the dust disk. The peak brightness temperature of the 13CO line shows a small bump around 130 au, while 12CO lines do not. We investigate two possible mechanisms for reproducing the observed dust gap-ring structure and a gas temperature bump. First, the observed gap structure can be opened by a Jupiter-mass planet using the relation between the planet mass and the gap depth and width. Meanwhile, the radiative transfer calculations based on the observed dust surface density profile show that the observed dust ring could be formed by dust accumulation at the gas temperature bump, that is, the gas pressure bump produced beyond the outer edge of the dust disk.

How the power spectrum of dust continuum images may hide the presence of a characteristic filament width

Context. Herschel observations of interstellar clouds support a paradigm for star formation in which molecular filaments play a central role. One of the foundations of this paradigm is the finding, based on detailed studies of the transverse column density profiles observed with Herschel, that nearby molecular filaments share a common inner width of ∼0.1 pc. The existence of a characteristic filament width has been recently questioned, however, on the grounds that it seems inconsistent with the scale-free nature of the power spectrum of interstellar cloud images. Aims. In an effort to clarify the origin of this apparent discrepancy, we examined the power spectra of the Herschel/SPIRE 250 μm images of the Polaris, Aquila, and Taurus–L1495 clouds in detail and performed a number of simple numerical experiments by injecting synthetic filaments in both the Herschel images and synthetic background images. Methods. We constructed several populations of synthetic filaments of 0.1 pc width with realistic area filling factors (Afil) and distributions of column density contrasts (δc). After adding synthetic filaments to the original Herschel images, we recomputed the image power spectra and compared the results with the original, essentially scale-free power spectra. We used the χ2variance of the residuals between the best power-law fit and the output power spectrum in each simulation as a diagnostic of the presence (or absence) of a significant departure from a scale-free power spectrum. Results. We find that χ2variance depends primarily on the combined parameter δ22 Afil. According to our numerical experiments, a significant departure from a scale-free behavior and thus the presence of a characteristic filament width become detectable in the power spectrum when δ22 Afil ⪆ 0.1 for synthetic filaments with Gaussian profiles and δ22 Afil ⪆ 0.4 for synthetic filaments with Plummer-like density profiles. Analysis of the real Herschel 250 μm data suggests that δ22 Afil is ∼0.01 in the case of the Polaris cloud and ∼0.016 in the Aquila cloud, significantly below the fiducial detection limit of δ22 Afil ∼ 0.1 in both cases. In both clouds, the observed filament contrasts and area filling factors are such that the filamentary structure contributes only ∼1/5 of the power in the image power spectrum at angular frequencies where an effect of the characteristic filament width is expected. Conclusions. We conclude that the essentially scale-free power spectra of Herschel images remain consistent with the existence of a characteristic filament width ∼0.1 pc and do not invalidate the conclusions drawn from studies of the filament profiles.

CO, H2O, H2O+ line and dust emission in a z = 3.63 strongly lensed starburst merger at sub-kiloparsec scales

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), we report high angular-resolution observations of the redshift z = 3.63 galaxy H-ATLAS J083051.0+013224 (G09v1.97), one of the most luminous strongly lensed galaxies discovered by the Herschel-Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey (H-ATLAS). We present 0.″2−0.″4 resolution images of the rest-frame 188 and 419 μm dust continuum and the CO(6–5), H2O(211−202), and Jup = 2 H2O+ line emission. We also report the detection of H2O(211−202) in this source. The dust continuum and molecular gas emission are resolved into a nearly complete ∼1.″5 diameter Einstein ring plus a weaker image in the center, which is caused by a special dual deflector lensing configuration. The observed line profiles of the CO(6–5), H2O(211−202), and Jup = 2 H2O+ lines are strikingly similar. In the source plane, we reconstruct the dust continuum images and the spectral cubes of the CO, H2O, and H2O+ line emission at sub-kiloparsec scales. The reconstructed dust emission in the source plane is dominated by a compact disk with an effective radius of 0.7 ± 0.1 kpc plus an overlapping extended disk with a radius twice as large. While the average magnification for the dust continuum is μ ∼ 10−11, the magnification of the line emission varies from 5 to 22 across different velocity components. The line emission of CO(6–5), H2O(211−202), and H2O+ have similar spatial and kinematic distributions. The molecular gas and dust content reveal that G09v1.97 is a gas-rich major merger in its pre-coalescence phase, with a total molecular gas mass of ∼1011 M⊙. Both of the merging companions are intrinsically ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) with infrared luminosities LIR reaching ≳4 × 1012 L⊙, and the total LIR of G09v1.97 is (1.4 ± 0.7)×1013 L⊙. The approaching southern galaxy (dominating from V = −400 to −150 km s−1 relative to the systemic velocity) shows no obvious kinematic structure with a semi-major half-light radius of as = 0.4 kpc, while the receding galaxy (0 to 350 km s−1) resembles an as = 1.2 kpc rotating disk. The two galaxies are separated by a projected distance of 1.3 kpc, bridged by weak line emission (−150 to 0 km s−1) that is co-spatially located with the cold dust emission peak, suggesting a large amount of cold interstellar medium (ISM) in the interacting region. As one of the most luminous star-forming dusty high-redshift galaxies, G09v1.97 is an exceptional source for understanding the ISM in gas-rich starbursting major merging systems at high redshift.

The Circumstellar Disk HD 169142: Gas, Dust, and Planets Acting in Concert?*

Abstract HD 169142 is an excellent target for investigating signs of planet–disk interaction due to previous evidence of gap structures. We perform J-band (∼1.2 μm) polarized intensity imaging of HD 169142 with VLT/SPHERE. We observe polarized scattered light down to 0.″16 (∼19 au) and find an inner gap with a significantly reduced scattered-light flux. We confirm the previously detected double-ring structure peaking at 0.″18 (∼21 au) and 0.″56 (∼66 au) and marginally detect a faint third gap at 0.″70–0.″73 (∼82–85 au). We explore dust evolution models in a disk perturbed by two giant planets, as well as models with a parameterized dust size distribution. The dust evolution model is able to reproduce the ring locations and gap widths in polarized intensity but fails to reproduce their depths. However, it gives a good match with the ALMA dust continuum image at 1.3 mm. Models with a parameterized dust size distribution better reproduce the gap depth in scattered light, suggesting that dust filtration at the outer edges of the gaps is less effective. The pileup of millimeter grains in a dust trap and the continuous distribution of small grains throughout the gap likely require more efficient dust fragmentation and dust diffusion in the dust trap. Alternatively, turbulence or charging effects might lead to a reservoir of small grains at the surface layer that is not affected by the dust growth and fragmentation cycle dominating the dense disk midplane. The exploration of models shows that extracting planet properties such as mass from observed gap profiles is highly degenerate.

Scattering-produced (sub)millimetre polarization in inclined discs: optical depth effects, near–far side asymmetry and dust settling

Disk polarization at (sub)millimeter wavelengths is being revolutionized by ALMA observationally, but its origin remains uncertain. Dust scattering was recently recognized as a potential contributor to polarization, although its basic properties have yet to be thoroughly explored. Here, we quantify the effects of optical depth on the scattering-induced polarization in inclined disks through a combination of analytical illustration, approximate semi-analytical modeling using formal solution to the radiative transfer equation, and Monte Carlo simulations. We find that the near-side of the disk is significantly brighter in polarized intensity than the far-side, provided that the disk is optically thick and that the scattering grains have yet to settle to the midplane. This asymmetry is the consequence of a simple geometric effect: the near-side of the disk surface is viewed more edge-on than the far-side. It is a robust signature that may be used to distinguish the scattering-induced polarization from that by other mechanisms, such as aligned grains. The asymmetry is weaker for a geometrically thinner dust disk. As such, it opens an exciting new window on dust settling. We find anecdotal evidence from dust continuum imaging of edge-on disks that large grains are not yet settled in the youngest (Class 0) disks, but become more so in older disks. This trend is corroborated by the polarization data in inclined disks showing that younger disks have more pronounced near-far side asymmetry and thus less grain settling. If confirmed, the trend would have far-reaching implications for grain evolution and, ultimately, the formation of planetesimals and planets.

Gone with the heat: a fundamental constraint on the imaging of dust and molecular gas in the early Universe.

Images of dust continuum and carbon monoxide (CO) line emission are powerful tools for deducing structural characteristics of galaxies, such as disc sizes, H2 gas velocity fields and enclosed H2 and dynamical masses. We report on a fundamental constraint set by the cosmic microwave background (CMB) on the observed structural and dynamical characteristics of galaxies, as deduced from dust continuum and CO-line imaging at high redshifts. As the CMB temperature rises in the distant Universe, the ensuing thermal equilibrium between the CMB and the cold dust and H2 gas progressively erases all spatial and spectral contrasts between their brightness distributions and the CMB. For high-redshift galaxies, this strongly biases the recoverable H2 gas and dust mass distributions, scale lengths, gas velocity fields and dynamical mass estimates. This limitation is unique to millimetre/submillimetre wavelengths and unlike its known effect on the global dust continuum and molecular line emission of galaxies, it cannot be addressed simply. We nevertheless identify a unique signature of CMB-affected continuum brightness distributions, namely an increasing rather than diminishing contrast between such brightness distributions and the CMB when the cold dust in distant galaxies is imaged at frequencies beyond the Raleigh–Jeans limit. For the molecular gas tracers, the same effect makes the atomic carbon lines maintain a larger contrast than the CO lines against the CMB.

THE PROCESSING OF CLUMPY MOLECULAR GAS AND STAR FORMATION IN THE GALACTIC CENTER

The Galactic center uniquely provides opportunities to resolve how star clusters form in neutral gas overdensities engulfed in a large-scale accretion flow. We have performed sensitive Green Bank 100m Telescope (GBT), Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA), and Submillimeter Array (SMA) mapping observations of molecular gas and thermal dust emission surrounding the Galaxy's supermassive black hole (SMBH) Sgr <TEX>$A^{\ast}$</TEX>. We resolved several molecular gas streams orbiting the center on <TEX>${\gtrsim}10$</TEX> pc scales. Some of these gas streams appear connected to the well-known 2-4 pc scale molecular circumnuclear disk (CND). The CND may be the tidally trapped inner part of the large-scale accretion flow, which incorporates inflow via exterior gas filaments/arms, and ultimately feeds gas toward Sgr <TEX>$A^{\ast}$</TEX>. Our high resolution GBT+JVLA <TEX>$NH_3$</TEX> images and SMA+JCMT 0.86 mm dust continuum image consistently reveal abundant dense molecular clumps in this region. These gas clumps are characterized by <TEX>${\gtrsim}100$</TEX> times higher virial masses than the derived molecular gas masses based on 0.86 mm dust continuum emission. In addition, Class I <TEX>$CH_3OH$</TEX> masers and some <TEX>$H_2O$</TEX> masers are observed to be well associated with the dense clumps. We propose that the resolved gas clumps may be pressurized gas reservoirs for feeding the formation of 1-10 solar-mass stars. These sources may be the most promising candidates for ALMA to probe the process of high-mass star-formation in the Galactic center.

SUB-KILOPARSEC IMAGING OF COOL MOLECULAR GAS IN TWO STRONGLY LENSED DUSTY, STAR-FORMING GALAXIES

We present spatially-resolved imaging obtained with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) of three CO lines in two high-redshift gravitationally lensed dusty star-forming galaxies, discovered by the South Pole Telescope. Strong lensing allows us to probe the structure and dynamics of the molecular gas in these two objects, at z=2.78 and z=5.66, with effective source-plane resolution of less than 1kpc. We model the lensed emission from multiple CO transitions and the dust continuum in a consistent manner, finding that the cold molecular gas as traced by low-J CO always has a larger half-light radius than the 870um dust continuum emission. This size difference leads to up to 50% differences in the magnification factor for the cold gas compared to dust. In the z=2.78 galaxy, these CO observations confirm that the background source is undergoing a major merger, while the velocity field of the other source is more complex. We use the ATCA CO observations and comparable resolution Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array dust continuum imaging of the same objects to constrain the CO-H_2 conversion factor with three different procedures, finding good agreement between the methods and values consistent with those found for rapidly star-forming systems. We discuss these galaxies in the context of the star formation - gas mass surface density relation, noting that the change in emitting area with observed CO transition must be accounted for when comparing high-redshift galaxies to their lower redshift counterparts.