Compact Hydrogen Sulfide Emission Indicates Sulfur-bearing Ice Sublimation in the Inner Disk of HD 163296

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Main Authors: Yamato, Yoshihide, Aikawa, Yuri, Furuya, Kenji, Law, Charles J., Öberg, Karin I., Qi, Chunhua, Gianni, Cataldi, Gal, Romane Le, Notsu, Shota, Guzmán, Viviana V., Huang, Jane
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Yamato, Yoshihide
Aikawa, Yuri
Furuya, Kenji
Law, Charles J.
Öberg, Karin I.
Qi, Chunhua
Gianni, Cataldi
Gal, Romane Le
Notsu, Shota
Guzmán, Viviana V.
Huang, Jane
author_facet Yamato, Yoshihide
Aikawa, Yuri
Furuya, Kenji
Law, Charles J.
Öberg, Karin I.
Qi, Chunhua
Gianni, Cataldi
Gal, Romane Le
Notsu, Shota
Guzmán, Viviana V.
Huang, Jane
contents The sulfur chemistry in protoplanetary disks directly affects the composition and potential habitability of nascent planets, but its volatile inventory remains highly uncertain. Here, we present deep Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of hydrogen sulfide (H$_2$S) along with SO and SO$_2$ in the disk around HD 163296 at an angular resolution of $\approx0.\!\!^{\prime\prime}3$ (or $\approx$30 au). We detect unresolved, compact emission of H$_2$S and SO (and tentatively SO$_2$) at the disk center with a broad line width of $\sim$40 km s$^{-1}$, suggesting that the emission is originating from the innermost regions. By fitting line profiles with a geometrically-thin Keplerian-rotating disk model, we constrain the emitting radii and gas temperatures of these molecules to be $\approx$3-5 au and $\gtrsim$90-120 K, respectively, consistent with sublimation of sulfur-bearing molecules along with water ice in the inner warm region. While the higher or comparable column density of H$_2$S with respect to SO and SO$_2$ indicates that H$_2$S is an important volatile sulfur reservoir in the disk, the limited constraints mean that we cannot rule out significantly depleted volatile sulfur as also commonly inferred in other planet-forming disks. Further observations are needed to better constrain disk sulfur inventory, unravel how sulfur compounds are reprocessed in disks, and shed light on the nature of less-volatile species, such as salts and sulfide minerals, which may occupy a significant portion of sulfur budget.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_11408
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Compact Hydrogen Sulfide Emission Indicates Sulfur-bearing Ice Sublimation in the Inner Disk of HD 163296
Yamato, Yoshihide
Aikawa, Yuri
Furuya, Kenji
Law, Charles J.
Öberg, Karin I.
Qi, Chunhua
Gianni, Cataldi
Gal, Romane Le
Notsu, Shota
Guzmán, Viviana V.
Huang, Jane
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
The sulfur chemistry in protoplanetary disks directly affects the composition and potential habitability of nascent planets, but its volatile inventory remains highly uncertain. Here, we present deep Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) observations of hydrogen sulfide (H$_2$S) along with SO and SO$_2$ in the disk around HD 163296 at an angular resolution of $\approx0.\!\!^{\prime\prime}3$ (or $\approx$30 au). We detect unresolved, compact emission of H$_2$S and SO (and tentatively SO$_2$) at the disk center with a broad line width of $\sim$40 km s$^{-1}$, suggesting that the emission is originating from the innermost regions. By fitting line profiles with a geometrically-thin Keplerian-rotating disk model, we constrain the emitting radii and gas temperatures of these molecules to be $\approx$3-5 au and $\gtrsim$90-120 K, respectively, consistent with sublimation of sulfur-bearing molecules along with water ice in the inner warm region. While the higher or comparable column density of H$_2$S with respect to SO and SO$_2$ indicates that H$_2$S is an important volatile sulfur reservoir in the disk, the limited constraints mean that we cannot rule out significantly depleted volatile sulfur as also commonly inferred in other planet-forming disks. Further observations are needed to better constrain disk sulfur inventory, unravel how sulfur compounds are reprocessed in disks, and shed light on the nature of less-volatile species, such as salts and sulfide minerals, which may occupy a significant portion of sulfur budget.
title Compact Hydrogen Sulfide Emission Indicates Sulfur-bearing Ice Sublimation in the Inner Disk of HD 163296
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.11408