Signatures of Planet Formation in Gravitationally Unstable Disks

Abstract

In this paper, we calculate simulated scattered light images of a circumstellar disk in which a planet is forming by gravitational instability. The simulated images bear no correlation to the vertically integrated surface density of the disk, but rather trace the density structure in the tenuous upper layers of the disk. Although the density at high altitudes does not bear a direct relation to activity at the midplane, the very existence of structure at high altitudes along with high time variability is an indicator of gravitational instability within the disk. The timescale for variations is much shorter than the orbital period of the planet, which facilitates observation of the phenomenon. Scattered light images may not necessarily be able to tell us where exactly a planet might be forming in a disk, but can still be a useful probe of active planet formation within a circumstellar disk. Although these phenomena are unlikely to be observable by current telescopes, future large telescopes, such as the Giant Magellan Telescope, may be able to detect them.

arXiv comment5 pages, 2 color figures. Accepted to ApJ

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• Testing Disk Instability Models for Giant Planet Formation
• The HD 163296 Circumstellar Disk in Scattered Light: Evidence of Time-Variable Self-Shadowing
• Gaps in Protoplanetary Disks as Signatures of Planets: I. Methodology and Validation
• SEEDS Adaptive Optics Imaging of the Asymmetric Transition Disk Oph IRS 48 in Scattered Light
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• Tracing large-scale structures in circumstellar disks with ALMA
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• Detectability of giant planets in protoplanetary disks by CO emission lines
• The Structure of a Self-Gravitating Protoplanetary Disk and its Implications to Direct Imaging Observations
• Radiative Transfer Models of a Possible Planet in the AB Aurigae Disk