Artistic interpretation of gas generation when objects collide in a garbage can.
Considering the line of atomic carbon in two young star systems (49 Keith and Beta Painter), scientists found atomic carbon in the disks. For the first time, this observation was made on a submillimeter wavelength, indicating that the gas was not there initially, but was generated after the collision process.
Most young stars and middle-aged (like the Sun) have “disks with debris”. They resemble the Oort Cloud and are considered residual materials from the formation of the system. Scientists used radiosonde and began to notice the presence of gas in the disks. There are two hypotheses to this effect: the gas may be primary from the cloud that formed the star, or it appeared during the collision of objects.
To find the answer, a team from the Star and Planet Formation Lab decided to investigate carbon emissions. It usually exists in molecular form (carbon monoxide). Ultraviolet starlight dissociates atoms, creating free carbon. Usually such a reaction translates it into CO. However, if there is no hydrogen there, then there can be no reaction and the carbon remains in an atomic state. With the help of the Atacama Sublimated Telescope (ASTE) in Chile, scientists studied the atomic carbon lines in 49 Keith and Beta Painter. They compared the data from the garbage disks with information from ALMA (Atakam large millimeter range grille). The researchers were genuinely surprised, since they found atomic carbon in them, although there is very little hydrogen there (and this is the main material). It became clear that gas does not have a primary nature, which means it was created by a certain process. However, gas was not found in all garbage disks. So it is secondary.
The study of the occurrence of gas at impact will help to understand the evolution of protoplanetary disks in garbage.
