Dynamical Analysis of the HD 169142 Planet-Forming Disk: Twelve Years of High-Contrast Polarimetry

Miles Lucas; Michael Bottom; Ruobing Dong; Myriam Benisty; Mario Flock; Maria Vincent; Jonathan Williams; Kyohoon Ahn; Thayne Currie; Vincent Deo; Olivier Guyon; Tomoyuki Kudo; Lucinda Lilley; Julien Lozi; Maxwell Millar-Blanchaer; Barnaby Norris; Sebastián Pérez; Boris Safonov; Peter Tuthill; Taichi Uyama; Sébastien Vievard; Manxuan Zhang

arXiv · 2509.15323

Dynamical Analysis of the HD 169142 Planet-Forming Disk: Twelve Years of High-Contrast Polarimetry

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Abstract

We present a dynamical analysis of the HD 169142 planet-forming disk based on high-contrast polarimetric imaging over a twelve-year observational period, offering insights into its disk evolution and planet-disk interactions. This study explores the evolution of scattered-light features and their relationship with millimeter continuum emission. Archival visible-to-near-infrared scattered-light observations from NACO, SPHERE, and GPI combined with new observations from SCExAO reveal persistent non-axisymmetric structures in both the inner and outer rings of the disk. Through Keplerian image transformations and phase cross-correlation techniques, we show that the azimuthal brightness variations in the inner ring follow the local Keplerian velocity, suggesting these are intrinsic disk features rather than planet-induced spirals or shadows. The motion of the outer ring is weakly detected, requiring a longer observational baseline for further confirmation. Comparing scattered-light features with ALMA 1.3 mm-continuum data, we find that the scattered light traces the edges of dust structures in the inner ring, indicating complex interactions and a leaky dust trap around the water-ice snowline. These findings highlight the capability of long-term monitoring of circumstellar disks to distinguish planetary influences from Keplerian disk dynamics.

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Miles Lucas, Michael Bottom, Ruobing Dong, Myriam Benisty, Mario Flock, Maria Vincent, Jonathan Williams, Kyohoon Ahn, Thayne Currie, Vincent Deo, Olivier Guyon, Tomoyuki Kudo, Lucinda Lilley, Julien Lozi, Maxwell Millar-Blanchaer, Barnaby Norris, Sebastián Pérez, Boris Safonov, Peter Tuthill, Taichi Uyama, Sébastien Vievard, Manxuan Zhang. 2025-09-18. Dynamical Analysis of the HD 169142 Planet-Forming Disk: Twelve Years of High-Contrast Polarimetry. https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.15323

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