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DM Tau disk shows non-thermal line broadening

A protoplanetary disk depicted in a three-dimensional visualization against a starfield background, showing a brown and tan disk with glowing red accretion regions around a central object, with a distant red star visible in the upper right.
Research area:AstrophysicsAstronomy and AstrophysicsAstro and Planetary Science

What the study found

The study found a significant nonthermal contribution to the molecular line width in the DM Tau protoplanetary disk, with a value of about 0.4 times the sound speed. The authors also report that a disk model based on CO data reproduces CS emission well and reveals localized residual structures in the disk.

Why the authors say this matters

The authors say this matters because molecular line broadening can be used to directly measure turbulent motion in protoplanetary disks, which is expected to help transport angular momentum and drive mass accretion. They also conclude that their modeling framework can be applied to other disks with high-quality observations.

What the researchers tested

The researchers analyzed high-resolution 12CO J=3–2 observations of DM Tau from the exoALMA Large Program. They used the radiative transfer code mcfost in a Bayesian inference framework that evaluated more than five million disk models to fit the data and constrain disk structure and kinematics.

What worked and what didn't

Their approach returned a significant nonthermal line-broadening component of roughly 0.4 sound speeds, which is inconsistent with purely thermal motions. Using the CO-derived disk structure as a starting point, they also reproduced the CS J=7–6 emission well. The abstract says this allowed them to identify residual structures that deviate from expected emission and may trace forming planets.

What to keep in mind

The abstract does not describe detailed limitations or uncertainties beyond the model-based nature of the analysis. It also does not state whether the localized residual structures are confirmed planets, only that they may trace forming planets.

Key points

  • DM Tau shows a significant nonthermal contribution to molecular line broadening, about 0.4 times the sound speed.
  • The study used high-resolution 12CO J=3–2 observations from the exoALMA Large Program.
  • More than five million disk models were evaluated with the mcfost radiative transfer code in a Bayesian framework.
  • A CO-based disk structure reproduced CS J=7–6 emission well.
  • Residual structures in the moment maps deviated from expected emission and may trace forming planets.

Disclosure

Research title:
DM Tau disk shows non-thermal line broadening
Authors:
Caitlyn Hardiman, C. Pinte, Daniel J. Price, Thomas Hilder, Iain Hammond, Taïssa Danilovich, Sean M. Andrews, Richard Teague, Giovanni P. Rosotti, Mario Flock, Gianni Cataldi, J.H. Bae, Marcelo Barraza-Alfaro, Myriam Benisty, Nicolás Cuello, Pietro Curone, Ian Czekala, Stefano Facchini, Daniele Fasano, Misato Fukagawa, Maria Galloway-Sprietsma, Himanshi Garg, Cassandra Hall, Jane Huang, John D. Ilee, Andrés F. Izquierdo, Kazuhiro Kanagawa, Geoffroy Lesur, Giuseppe Lodato, Cristiano Longarini, Ryan A. Loomis, Francois Menard, Ryuta Orihara, Jochen Stadler, Hsi-Wei Yen, Gaylor Wafflard- Fernandez, David J. Wilner, Andrew J. Winter, Lisa Wölfer, Tomohiro C. Yoshida, Brianna Zawadzki
Publication date:
2026-01-30
DOI:
10.3847/2041-8213/ae313a
OpenAlex record:
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AI provenance: This post was generated by OpenAI. The original authors did not write or review this post.

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