Meter-Sized Moonlet Population in Saturn\u27s C Ring and Cassini Division

Stellar occultations observed by the Cassini Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph reveal the presence of transparent holes a few meters to a few tens of meters in radial extent in otherwise optically thick regions of the C ring and the Cassini Division. We attribute the holes to gravitational disturbances generated by a population of ~10 m boulders in the rings that is intermediate in size between the background ring particle size distribution and the previously observed ~100 m propeller moonlets in the A ring. The size distribution of these boulders is described by a shallower power-law than the one that describes the ring particle size distribution. The number and size distribution of these boulders could be explained by limited accretion processes deep within Saturn\u27s Roche zone

Imaging the water snow-line during a protostellar outburst

A snow-line is the region of a protoplanetary disk at which a major volatile, such as water or carbon monoxide, reaches its condensation temperature. Snow-lines play a crucial role in disk evolution by promoting the rapid growth of ice-covered grains^1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Signatures of the carbon monoxide snow-line (at temperatures of around 20 kelvin) have recently been imaged in the disks surrounding the pre-main-sequence stars TW Hydra^7, 8, 9 and HD163296 (refs 3, 10), at distances of about 30 astronomical units (au) from the star. But the water snow-line of a protoplanetary disk (at temperatures of more than 100 kelvin) has not hitherto been seen, as it generally lies very close to the star (less than 5 au away for solar-type stars^11). Water-ice is important because it regulates the efficiency of dust and planetesimal coagulation5, and the formation of comets, ice giants and the cores of gas giants^12. Here we report images at 0.03-arcsec resolution (12 au) of the protoplanetary disk around V883 Ori, a protostar of 1.3 solar masses that is undergoing an outburst in luminosity arising from a temporary increase in the accretion rate^13. We find an intensity break corresponding to an abrupt change in the optical depth at about 42 au, where the elevated disk temperature approaches the condensation point of water, from which we conclude that the outburst has moved the water snow-line. The spectral behaviour across the snow-line confirms recent model predictions^14: dust fragmentation and the inhibition of grain growth at higher temperatures results in soaring grain number densities and optical depths. As most planetary systems are expected to experience outbursts caused by accretion during their formation^15, 16, our results imply that highly dynamical water snow-lines must be considered when developing models of disk evolution and planet formation

Time evolution of snow regions and planet traps in an evolving protoplanetary disk

International audienceContext. Planet traps and snow lines are structures that may promote planetary formation in protoplanetary disks. They are very sensitive to the disk density and temperature structure. It is therefore necessary to follow the time evolution of the disk thermal structure throughout its viscous spreading. Since the snowlines are thought to generate density and temperature bumps, it is important to take into account the disk opacity variations when the various dust elements are sublimated. Aims. We track the time evolution of planet traps and snowlines in a viscously evolving protoplanetary disk using an opacity table that accounts for the composition of the dust material. Methods. We coupled a dynamical and thermodynamical disk model with a temperature-dependent opacity table (that accounts for the sublimation of the main dust components) to investigate the formation and evolution of snowlines and planet traps during the first million years of disk evolution. Results. Starting from a minimum mass solar nebula, we find that the disk mid-plane temperature profile shows several plateaux (0.1−1 AU wide) at the different sublimation temperatures of the species that make up the dust. For water ice, the corresponding plateau can be larger than 1 AU, which means that this is a snow "region" rather than a snow "line". As a consequence, the surface density of solids in the snow region may increase gradually, not abruptly. Several planet traps and desert regions appear naturally as a result of abrupt local changes in the temperature and density profiles over the disk lifetime. These structures are mostly located at the edges of the temperature plateaux (surrounding the dust sublimation lines) and at the heat-transition barrier where the disk stellar heating and viscous heating are of the same magnitude (around 10 AU after 1 Myr). Conclusions. Several traps are identified: although a few appear to be transient, most of them slowly migrate along with the heat-transition barrier or the dust sublimation lines. These planet traps may temporarily favor the growth of planetary cores

The Formation Of The First Solids In The Solar System: An Investigation Of CAI Diversity

Chondritic meteorites are primitive bodies and therefore an important source of information on the first moments of planets formation. Chondrites contain several materials especially calcium and aluminum rich inclusions (CAIs), known to be the oldest objects of the solar system (4.567 Gyr - Amelin et al., 2002; Connelly et al., 2008) and thus the first solids to be formed. CAIs appear in various textures, sizes and compositions in chondrites. Though, all of them should have formed at high temperature (1300-1800 K) in the same region of the solar nebula by condensation from the gas (e.g. Grossman, 1972; Yoneda & Grossman, 1995; Petaev & Wood, 1998; Ebel & Grossman 2000). To answer this problem we study the CAI formation within the solar nebula using numerical simulations. For this work we developed a self consistent thermodynamical model of the solar nebula (see associated talk from Baillié et. al ) based on previous works (Calvet et. al, 1991; Hueso & Guillot, 2005; Dullemond, Dominik and Natta, 2001). Using this model, we simulate the young system with Lagrangian Implicit Disk Transport code (LIDT - Charnoz et. al, 2010). We will focus on the very first instants of the CAIs within the few years following their condensation. We will report our first results in terms of thermal history and investigate if turbulence-driven transport may explain the CAI diversity

Insights on CAIs Thermal History from Turbulent Transport Simulations of Micron-Sized Precursors in the Early Solar Nebula

International audienceUsing numerical simulations we showed that turbulent transport in a thermally zoned protoplanetary disk might be at the origin of CAIs complexity and diversity

Igneous CAI Growth by Coagulation and Partial Melting of Smaller Proto-CAIs: Insights from a Compact Type A CAI and from Modeling

International audienceMineral chemistry mapping and O-isotope study of a compact type A CAI and coagulation modeling bring new information about CAI growth in the solar nebula