Abundant hydrocarbons in the disk around a very-low-mass star

• Main Authors: Arabhavi, A. M, Kamp, I, Henning, Th, van Dishoeck, E. F, Christiaens, V, Gasman, D, Perrin, A, Güdel, M, Tabone, B, Kanwar, J, Waters, L. B. F. M, Pascucci, I, Samland, M, Perotti, G, Bettoni, G, Grant, S. L, Lagage, P. O, Ray, T. P, Vandenbussche, B, Absil, O, Argyriou, I, Barrado, D, Boccaletti, A, Bouwman, J, Garatti, A. Caratti o, Glauser, A. M, Lahuis, F, Mueller, M, Olofsson, G, Pantin, E, Scheithauer, S, Morales-Calderón, M, Franceschi, R, Jang, H, Pawellek, N, Rodgers-Lee, D, Schreiber, J, Schwarz, K, Temmink, M, Vlasblom, M, Wright, G, Colina, L, Östlin, G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 20-06-2024
• Subjects: Physics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics; Physics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2406.14293

Science, Vol 384, Issue 6700, 2024, pp. 1086-1090 Very low-mass stars (those <0.3 solar masses) host orbiting terrestrial
planets more frequently than other types of stars, but the compositions of
those planets are largely unknown. We use mid-infrared spectroscopy with the
James Webb Space Telescope to investigate the chemical composition of the
planet-forming disk around ISO-ChaI 147, a 0.11 solar-mass star. The inner disk
has a carbon-rich chemistry: we identify emission from 13 carbon-bearing
molecules including ethane and benzene. We derive large column densities of
hydrocarbons indicating that we probe deep into the disk. The high carbon to
oxygen ratio we infer indicates radial transport of material within the disk,
which we predict would affect the bulk composition of any planets forming in
the disk.