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Issue A&A Volume 417, Number 1, April I 2004 Page(s) 151 - 158 Section Interstellar and circumstellar matter DOI 10.1051/0004-6361:20034036

A&A 417, 151-158 (2004)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20034036

An alternative look at the snowline in protoplanetary disks

K. Kornet¹, M. Rózyczka¹ and T. F. Stepinski<sup>2

1</sup>  Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center, Bartycka 18, Warsaw, 00-716, Poland
    e-mail: kornet@camk.edu.pl; mnr@camk.edu.pl
²  Lunar and Planetary Institute, 3600 Bay Area Blvd., Houston, TX 77058, USA
    e-mail: tom@lpi.usra.edu

(Received 2 July 2003 / Accepted 12 November 2003 )

Abstract
We have calculated an evolution of protoplanetary disk from an extensive set of initial conditions using a time-dependent model capable of simultaneously keeping track of the global evolution of gas and water-ice. A number of simplifications and idealizations allows for an embodiment of gas-particle coupling, coagulation, sedimentation, and evaporation/condensation processes. We have shown that, when the evolution of ice is explicitly included, the location of the snowline has to be calculated directly as the inner edge of the region where ice is present and not as the radius where disk's temperature equals the evaporation temperature of water-ice. The final location of the snowline is set by an interplay between all involved processes and is farther from the star than implied by the location of the evaporation temperature radius. The evolution process naturally leads to an order of magnitude enhancement in surface density of icy material.

Key words: accretion, accretion disks -- solar system: formation

Offprint request: K. Kornet, kornet@camk.edu.pl

© ESO 2004

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