Modelling predicts a molecule-rich disk around the AGB star L2 Puppis

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Main Authors: Van de Sande, M., Walsh, C., Danilovich, T., De Ceuster, F., Ceulemans, T.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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_version_ 1866911924437909504
author Van de Sande, M.
Walsh, C.
Danilovich, T.
De Ceuster, F.
Ceulemans, T.
author_facet Van de Sande, M.
Walsh, C.
Danilovich, T.
De Ceuster, F.
Ceulemans, T.
contents The nearby oxygen-rich AGB star L2 Pup hosts a well-studied nearly edge-on disk. To date, disks around AGB stars have not been chemically studied in detail. By combining a parameterisation commonly used for protoplanetary disks and archival ALMA observations, we retrieved an updated density and temperature structure of this disk. This physical model was then used as input to the first chemical model of an AGB disk. The model shows that the physical structure of the disk has a large impact on its chemistry, with certain species showing large changes in column density relative to a radial outflow, indicating that chemistry could be used as a tracer of disks that cannot be directly imaged. Despite its oxygen-rich nature, the daughter species formed within the disk are surprisingly carbon-rich. Two chemical regimes can be distinguished: cosmic-ray induced chemistry in the midplane and photochemistry induced by the interstellar radiation field in the outer regions. Certain complex organic molecules are formed in the midplane. This occurs via gas-phase chemistry only, as the disk is too warm for dust-gas chemistry. The photochemistry in the outer regions leads to the efficient formation of (long) carbon-chains. The predictions of the model allow us to tentatively put the disk's age $\lesssim 10^5$ yr. Additional observations are necessary to better constrain the physical structure of L2 Pup's disk and are essential to test the predictions made by the chemical model. Our exploratory work paves the way for a more general study of the chemistry of AGB disks.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2406_12768
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Modelling predicts a molecule-rich disk around the AGB star L2 Puppis
Van de Sande, M.
Walsh, C.
Danilovich, T.
De Ceuster, F.
Ceulemans, T.
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
The nearby oxygen-rich AGB star L2 Pup hosts a well-studied nearly edge-on disk. To date, disks around AGB stars have not been chemically studied in detail. By combining a parameterisation commonly used for protoplanetary disks and archival ALMA observations, we retrieved an updated density and temperature structure of this disk. This physical model was then used as input to the first chemical model of an AGB disk. The model shows that the physical structure of the disk has a large impact on its chemistry, with certain species showing large changes in column density relative to a radial outflow, indicating that chemistry could be used as a tracer of disks that cannot be directly imaged. Despite its oxygen-rich nature, the daughter species formed within the disk are surprisingly carbon-rich. Two chemical regimes can be distinguished: cosmic-ray induced chemistry in the midplane and photochemistry induced by the interstellar radiation field in the outer regions. Certain complex organic molecules are formed in the midplane. This occurs via gas-phase chemistry only, as the disk is too warm for dust-gas chemistry. The photochemistry in the outer regions leads to the efficient formation of (long) carbon-chains. The predictions of the model allow us to tentatively put the disk's age $\lesssim 10^5$ yr. Additional observations are necessary to better constrain the physical structure of L2 Pup's disk and are essential to test the predictions made by the chemical model. Our exploratory work paves the way for a more general study of the chemistry of AGB disks.
title Modelling predicts a molecule-rich disk around the AGB star L2 Puppis
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.12768