73 research outputs found

    Introduktion til uddrag fra ’Den én-dimensionale kvinde’

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    Blåøjet optimisme er ikke Nina Power. Det ses tydeligt i citatet her fra indledningen til Den én-dimensionale kvinde. Til gengæld er det, der kendetegner Power, et ønske om en systematisk og politisk tænkende feminisme, der har mod og evner til at se ulighedens materielle og økonomiske vilkår i øjnene

    From midplane to planets : the chemical fingerprint of a disk

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    This thesis addresses the chemical processes that determine the compositions of giant planet atmospheres. Connecting the observed composition of exoplanets to their formation sites often involves comparing the observed planetary atmospheric carbon-to-oxygen (C/O) ratio to a disk midplane model with a fixed chemical composition. In this scenario chemistry during the planet formation era is not considered, and the C/O ratios of gas and ice in disk midplane are simply defined by volatile icelines in a midplane of fixed chemical composition. However, kinetic chemical evolution during the lifetime of the gaseous disk can change the relative abundances of volatile species, thus altering the C/O ratios of planetary building blocks. In my chemical evolution models I utilize a large network of gas-phase, grain-surface and gas-grain interaction reactions, thus providing a comprehensive treatment of chemistry. In my talk I will show how chemical evolution can modify disk miplane chemistry and how this affects the C/O ratio of giant planet-forming material. I will argue that midplane chemical evolution needs to be addressed when predicting the chemical makeup of planets and their atmospheres. And as an extra, I will propose that chemical evolution can help constrain the formation histories of comets.Laboratory astrophysics and astrochemistr

    Connecting planet formation and astrochemistry: Refractory carbon depletion leading to super-stellar C/O in giant planetary atmospheres

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    [Abridged] Combining a time-dependent astrochemical model with a model of planet formation and migration, we compute the carbon-to-oxygen ratio (C/O) of a range of planetary embryos starting their formation in the inner solar system (1-3 AU). The volatile and ice abundance of relevant carbon and oxygen bearing molecular species are determined through a complex chemical kinetic code which includes both gas and grain surface chemistry. This is combined with a model for the abundance of the refractory dust grains to compute the total carbon and oxygen abundance in the protoplanetary disk available for incorporation into a planetary atmosphere. We include the effects of the refractory carbon depletion that has been observed in our solar system, and posit two models that would put this missing carbon back into the gas phase. This excess gaseous carbon then becomes important in determining the final planetary C/O because the gas disk now becomes more carbon rich relative to oxygen (high gaseous C/O). One model, where the carbon excess is maintained throughout the lifetime of the disk results in Hot Jupiters that have super-stellar C/O. The other model deposits the excess carbon early in the disk life and allows it to advect with the bulk gas. In this model the excess carbon disappears into the host star within 0.8 Myr, returning the gas disk to its original (sub-stellar) C/O, so the Hot Jupiters all exclusively have sub-stellar C/O. This shows that while the solids will tend to be oxygen rich, Hot Jupiters can have super-stellar C/O if a carbon excess can be maintained by some chemical processing of the dust grains. Whether the carbon and oxygen content of the atmosphere was accreted primarily by gas or solid accretion is heavily dependent on the mass of the atmosphere and where in the disk the growing planet accreted.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures, resubmitted to A&A after referee's comment

    Deep Search For Molecular Oxygen in TW Hya

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    The dominant form of oxygen in cold molecular clouds is gas-phase carbon monoxide (CO) and ice-phase water (H2_2O). Yet, in planet-forming disks around young stars, gas-phase CO and H2_2O are less abundant relative to their ISM values, and no other major oxygen-carrying molecules have been detected. Some astrochemical models predict that gas-phase molecular oxygen (O2_2) should be a major carrier of volatile oxygen in disks. We report a deep search for emission from the isotopologue 16^{16}O18^{18}O (NJ=2101N_J=2_1-0_1 line at 233.946 GHz) in the nearby protoplanetary disk around TW Hya. We used imaging techniques and matched filtering to search for weak emission but do not detect 16^{16}O18^{18}O. Based on our results, we calculate upper limits on the gas-phase O2_2 abundance in TW Hya of (6.470)×107(6.4-70)\times10^{-7} relative to H, which is 232-3 orders of magnitude below solar oxygen abundance. We conclude that gas-phase O2_2 is not a major oxygen-carrier in TW Hya. Two other potential oxygen-carrying molecules, SO and SO2_2, were covered in our observations, which we also do not detect. Additionally, we report a serendipitous detection of the C15^{15}N NJ=25/213/2N_J = 2_{5/2}-1_{3/2} hyperfine transitions, F=32F = 3 - 2 and F=21F = 2 - 1, at 219.9 GHz, which we found via matched filtering and confirm through imaging.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for publication in Ap

    Cometary compositions compared with protoplanetary disk midplane chemical evolution: An emerging chemical evolution taxonomy for come

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    Context. Comets are planetesimals left over from the formation of planets in the solar system. With a growing number of observed molecular abundances in many comets, and an improved understanding of chemical evolution in protoplanetary disk midplanes, comparisons can be made between models and observations that could potentially constrain the formation histories of comets. Aims. Our aim is to carry out the first statistical comparison between cometary volatile ice abundances and modelled evolving abundances in a protoplanetary disk midplane. Methods. A χ2 method was used to determine maximum likelihood surfaces for 14 different comets that formed at a given time (up to 8 Myr) and place (out to beyond the CO iceline) in the pre-solar nebula midplane. This was done using observed volatile abundances for the 14 comets and the evolution of volatile abundances from chemical modelling of disk midplanes. Two assumptions for the chemical modelling starting conditions (cloud inheritance or chemical reset), as well as two different sets of cometary molecules (parent species, with or without sulphur species) were investigated. Results. Considering all parent species (ten molecules) in the reset scenario, χ2 likelihood surfaces show a characteristic trail in the parameter space with high likelihood of formation around 30 AU at early times and 12 AU at later times for ten comets. This trail roughly traces the vicinity of the CO iceline in time. Conclusions. A statistical comparison between observed and modelled chemical abundances in comets and comet-forming regions could be a powerful tool for constraining cometary formation histories. The formation histories for all comets were constrained to the vicinity of the CO iceline, assuming that the chemistry was partially reset early in the pre-solar nebula. This is found, both when considering carbon-, oxygen-, and sulphur-bearing molecules (ten in total), and when only considering carbon- and oxygen-bearing molecules (seven in total). Since these 14 comets did not previously fall into the same taxonomical categories together, this chemical constraint may be proposed as an alternative taxonomy for comets. Based on the most likely time for each of these comets to have formed during the disk chemical evolution, a formation time classification for the 14 comets is suggested

    Molecular abundances and C/O ratios in chemically evolving planet-forming disk midplanes

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    Context. Exoplanet atmospheres are thought be built up from accretion of gas as well as pebbles and planetesimals in the midplanes of planet-forming disks. The chemical composition of this material is usually assumed to be unchanged during the disk lifetime. However, chemistry can alter the relative abundances of molecules in this planet-building material. Aims. We aim to assess the impact of disk chemistry during the era of planet formation. This is done by investigating the chemical changes to volatile gases and ices in a protoplanetary disk midplane out to 30 AU for up to 7 Myr, considering a variety of different conditions, including a physical midplane structure that is evolving in time, and also considering two disks with different masses. Methods. An extensive kinetic chemistry gas-grain reaction network was utilised to evolve the abundances of chemical species over time. Two disk midplane ionisation levels (low and high) were explored, as well as two different makeups of the initial abundances (“inheritance” or “reset”). Results. Given a high level of ionisation, chemical evolution in protoplanetary disk midplanes becomes significant after a few times 105 yr, and is still ongoing by 7 Myr between the H2O and the O2 icelines. Inside the H2O iceline, and in the outer, colder regions of the disk midplane outside the O2 iceline, the relative abundances of the species reach (close to) steady state by 7 Myr. Importantly, the changes in the abundances of the major elemental carbon and oxygen-bearing molecules imply that the traditional “stepfunction” for the C/O ratios in gas and ice in the disk midplane (as defined by sharp changes at icelines of H2O, CO2 and CO) evolves over time, and cannot be assumed fixed, with the C/O ratio in the gas even becoming smaller than the C/O ratio in the ice. In addition, at lower temperatures (<29 K), gaseous CO colliding with the grains gets converted into CO2 and other more complex ices, lowering the CO gas abundance between the O2 and CO thermal icelines. This effect can mimic a CO iceline at a higher temperature than suggested by its binding energy. Conclusions. Chemistry in the disk midplane is ionisation-driven, and evolves over time. This affects which molecules go into forming planets and their atmospheres. In order to reliably predict the atmospheric compositions of forming planets, as well as to relate observed atmospheric C/O ratios of exoplanets to where and how the atmospheres have formed in a disk midplane, chemical evolution needs to be considered and implemented into planet formation models
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