Up in smoke: carbon-destruction in the terrestrial planet-forming region of a young Class I disk
Authors: F. J. Ballieux, M. K. McClure, E. A. Bergin, M. L. R. Van 't Hoff, Ł. Tychoniec, L. Francis, E. F. Van Dishoeck
Abstract
Earth's surface and deep mantle are strongly depleted in carbon compared to the Sun. Sublimation of solid carbonaceous material in the inner midplanes of young disks could cause this depletion. We study such thermal processing in HOPS-68, a Class I protostar with a rich hydrocarbon spectrum. A companion paper has shown that it is recondensing refractory dust from a hot inner disk region, and that oxygen-bearing species are tracing a warm (300-500 K) molecular layer entrained in a disk-wind. In this work, we analyze the carbon species in the JWST spectrum of this source using local thermal equilibrium slab models. We detect warm (~400 K) HCN and C2H2 at the base of a disk wind, as well as colder (~40 K) C4H2, CH3, and CS in the outer disk or outflow cavity wall. Additionally, 13CCH2, CH4, and C6H2 are detected, while ALMA observations reveal C2H tracing the outflow cavity walls. We suggest that in a "refractory carbon destruction zone" in the inner disk, carbon-bearing species are released from the grains, possibly contributing to the observed carbon depletion of Earth. The disk wind then redistributes carbon carried by HCN and C2H2 from the inner disk to the colder outer disk, where UV-induced gas-phase reactions with C2H in the outflow cavity walls could produce the aliphatic carbon chains seen. This result implies that the Warm Carbon Chain Chemistry (WCCC, e.g. N. Sakai & S. Yamamoto 2013) might trace outflows rather than infall. The formation of aliphatic chains in the disk wind could promote the abundant aliphatic organics found in meteorites and asteroids.
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Carbon Depletion in the Early Solar SystemFabian Binkert, Til Birnstiel · 2023 · Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · cited 11 times · AI summary available
Carbon Depletion in the Early Solar System models how refractory carbon is released and transported in disks to explain carbon depletion in rocky bodies.
Abstract
Earth and other rocky objects in the inner Solar System are depleted in carbon compared to objects in the outer Solar System, the Sun, or the ISM. It is believed that this is a result of the selective removal of refractory carbon from primordial circumstellar material. In this work, we study the irreversible release of carbon into the gaseous environment via photolysis and pyrolysis of refractory carbonaceous material during the disk phase of the early Solar System. We analytically solve the one-dimensional advection equation and derive an explicit expression that describes the depletion of carbonaceous material in solids under the influence of radial and vertical transport. We find both dep…
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A Deep Search for Five Molecules in the 49 Ceti Debris Disk searches for molecular gas in a debris disk, rather than hydrocarbons around a young protostar.
In short
A deep ALMA search detected none of five molecules beyond CO in 49 Ceti, supporting selective carbon shielding rather than necessarily unusual exocometary ice composition.
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Thermochemical constraints on a primordial-origin of gas-rich debris disksH. Mitani, W. Ooyama, R. Nakatani et al. · 2026 · arXiv (Cornell University) preprint · AI summary available
Thermochemical constraints on a primordial-origin of gas-rich debris disks tests the origin of gas in evolved debris disks, not carbon processing in a young disk.
In short
Thermochemical models support a primordial origin for CO-rich debris disks under dust-poor, weak-ionisation conditions, but predict neutral-carbon emission more extended than observed.
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Thermochemical constraints on a primordial-origin of gas-rich debris disksH. Mitani, W. Ooyama, R. Nakatani et al. · 2026 · Earth and Planetary Astrophysics · AI summary available
Thermochemical constraints on a primordial-origin of gas-rich debris disks tests the origin of gas in evolved debris disks, not carbon processing in a young disk.
In short
Dust-poor primordial-remnant disks can reproduce substantial CO, low neutral-carbon/CO ratios, and weak HCO+ under suppressed cosmic-ray ionisation, but their predicted neutral-carbon emission is too extended.
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JWST-TST High Contrast uses JWST/MIRI spectroscopy to study carbon-rich material around a young accreting planet, rather than a protostellar disk.
Abstract
Young accreting planetary-mass objects are thought to draw material from a circumplanetary disk (CPD) composed of gas and dust. While the gas within the disk is expected to disperse within the first million years, strong accretion has nonetheless been detected in older systems, including the 30--45 Myr-old planetary-mass companion Delorme 1 AB b. We conducted spectroscopic observations with JWST/MIRI to investigate the presence of circumplanetary material around this young, accreting planet, and to characterize the planet's atmospheric properties and composition. We perform forward modeling using atmospheric models to characterize the planet's atmosphere. Beyond 10 microns, the SED becomes d…
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Carbon monoxide gas produced by a giant impact in the inner region of a young systemTajana Schneiderman, Luca Matrà, Alan P. Jackson et al. · 2021 · Nature 598, 425-428 (2021) · cited 12 times · Not summarized yet
Carbon monoxide gas produced by a giant impact studies gas from a planetary collision in a young system, not carbon chemistry in a protostellar outflow.
Abstract
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Planet formation in the PDS 70 system models C2H and CO in a protoplanetary disk to relate disk chemistry to planetary atmospheres.
Abstract
Understanding the chemical link between protoplanetary disks and planetary atmospheres is complicated by the fact that the popular targets in the study of disks and planets are widely separated both in space and time. The 5 Myr PDS 70 systems offers a unique opportunity to directly compare the chemistry of a giant planet's atmosphere to the chemistry of its natal disk. To that end, we derive our current best physical and chemical model for the PDS 70 disk through forward modelling of the $^{12}$CO, C$^{18}$O, and C$_2$H emission radial profiles with the thermochemical code DALI and find a volatile C/O ratio above unity in the outer disk. Using what we know of the PDS 70 disk today, we analyt…
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The hybrid disks: a search and study to better understand evolution of disksJ. Pericaud, E. Di Folco, A. Dutrey et al. · 2016 · A&A 600, A62 (2017) · cited 33 times · AI summary available
The hybrid disks surveys gas-rich debris disks to investigate disk evolution, rather than carbon release and hydrocarbon chemistry in a young disk.
Abstract
The increased sensitivity of millimeter-wave facilities now makes possible the detection of low amounts of gas in debris disks. Some of the gas-rich debris disks harbor peculiar properties, with possible pristine gas and secondary generated dust. The origin of the gas in these hybrid disks is strongly debated and the current sample is too sparse to understand this phenomenon. More detections are necessary to increase the statistics on this population. Lying at the final stages of evolution of proto-planetary disks and at the beginning of the debris disk phase, these objects could provide new insight into the processes involved in the making of planetary systems. We carried out a deep survey …
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