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arXiv · 2312.04618

High turbulence in the IM Lup protoplanetary disk: Direct observational constraints from CN and C$_2$H emission

T. Paneque-Carreño·A. F. Izquierdo·R. Teague·A. Miotello·E. A. Bergin·R. Loomis·E. F. van Dishoeck
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Abstract

Constraining turbulence in disks is key towards understanding their evolution through the transport of angular momentum. Until now measurements of high turbulence have remained elusive and methods for estimating turbulence relay mostly on complex radiative transfer models of the data. Using the disk emission from IM Lup, a source proposed to be undergoing Magneto-Rotational Instabilities (MRI) and possibly have high turbulence values in the upper disk layers, we present a new way of directly measuring turbulence without need of radiative transfer or thermochemical models. Through the characterization of the CN and C$_2$H emission in IM Lup, we aim to connect the information on the vertical and thermal structure of a particular disk region to derive turbulence at that location. By using an optically thin tracer it is possible to directly measure turbulence from the non-thermal broadening of the line. The vertical layers of the CN and C$_2$H emission are traced directly from the channel maps using ALFAHOR. By comparing their position to that of optically thick CO observations we are able to characterize the kinetic temperature of the emitting region. Using a simple parametric model of the line intensity with DISCMINER we accurately measure the emission linewidth and separate the thermal and non-thermal components. Assuming that the non-thermal component is fully turbulent, we are able to directly estimate the turbulent motions at the studied radial and vertical location of CN emission. IM Lup shows high turbulence of Mach 0.4-0.6 at $z/r \sim$ 0.25. Considering previous estimates of low turbulence near the midplane, this may indicate a vertical gradient in the disk turbulence, which is a key prediction of MRI studies. CN and C$_2$H are both emitting from a localized upper disk region at $z/r =$0.2-0.3, in agreement with thermochemical models.

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T. Paneque-Carreño, A. F. Izquierdo, R. Teague, A. Miotello, E. A. Bergin, R. Loomis, E. F. van Dishoeck. 2024-02-06. High turbulence in the IM Lup protoplanetary disk: Direct observational constraints from CN and C$_2$H emission. https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.04618

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