DATE2023.06.28 #Press Releases

ALMA Digs Deeper into the Mystery of Planet Formation

Overview of the press release

An international research team led by Nagayoshi Ohashi at Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA, Taiwan) used the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to observe disks around 19 protostars with a very high resolution to search for the earliest signs of planet formation. This survey, called "Early Planet Formation in Embedded Disks (eDisk)", was motivated by the recent findings that planet formation may be well-underway in the proto-planetary disks of age ~a few Myrs. The eDisk project performed the first systematic study to search for signs of planet formation in younger protostellar systems of age ~10,000-100,000 yr.

Image : Artistic image of a disk around a protostar. Credit: ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)

Initial results of the research are detailed in a series of 18 articles. Five of them, including Ohashi et al. presenting the overview of the program, were accepted in the Astrophysical Journal, and the first 4 are published on June 27, 2023 in the Astrophysical Journal. One of 4 papers (Yamato et al.) is led by Yoshihide Yamato, a PhD student in the Department Astronomy. Preprints of the 5 articles also appeared in arXiv on June 287, 2023. In addition, more articles based on further detailed analysis are in preparation.

Yuri Aikawa (Professor : Department of Astronomy, School of Science, The University of Tokyo) and Yoshihide Yamato (Ph.D. student : Department of Astronomy, School of Science, The University of Tokyo) have contributed to this research.

To read the full press release, please visit the website of National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and The ALMA Project.

Publication details

　Journal The Astrophysical Journal

Title
Nagayoshi Ohashi et al. “Early Planet Formation in Embedded Disks (eDisk). I. Overview of the Program and First Results”

Zhe-Yu Daniel Lin et al. “Early Planet Formation in Embedded Disks (eDisk). II. Limited Dust Settling and Prominent Snow Surfaces in the Edge-on Class I Disk IRAS 04302+2247”

Merel L.R. van 't Hoff et al. “Early Planet Formation in Embedded Disks (eDisk). III. A First High-resolution View of Submillimeter Continuum and Molecular Line Emission toward the Class 0 Protostar L1527 IRS”

Yoshihide Yamato et al. “Early Planet Formation in Embedded Disks (eDisk). IV. The Ringed and Warped Structure of the Disk around the Class I Protostar L1489 IRS”

Miyu Kido et al. “Early Planet Formation in Embedded Disks (eDisk). VII. Keplerian Disk, Disk Substructure, and Accretion Streamers in the Class 0 Protostar IRAS 16544–1604 in CB 68”