More Evidence for a Gas Giant Forming in HD 100546's Protoplanetary Disk

NIR SPECTROSCOPY OF THE HAeBe STAR HD 100546. III. FURTHER EVIDENCE OF AN ORBITING COMPANION?

Authors:

Brittain et al

Abstract:

We report high-resolution NIR spectroscopy of CO and OH emission from the Herbig Be star HD 100546. We discuss how our results bear striking resemblance to several theoretically predicted signposts of giant planet formation. The properties of the CO and OH emission lines are consistent with our earlier interpretation that these diagnostics provide indirect evidence for a companion that orbits the star close to the disk wall (at ~13 AU). The asymmetry of the OH spectral line profiles and their lack of time variability are consistent with emission from gas in an eccentric orbit at the disk wall that is approximately stationary in the inertial frame. The time variable spectroastrometric properties of the CO v = 1-0 emission line point to an orbiting source of CO emission with an emitting area similar to that expected for a circumplanetary disk (~0.1 AU2) assuming the CO emission is optically thick. We also consider a counterhypothesis to this interpretation, namely that the variable CO emission arises from a bright spot on the disk wall. We conclude with a brief suggestion of further work that can distinguish between these scenarios.