Into the thick of it: ALMA 0.45 mm observations of HL Tau at a resolution of 2 au

¹ Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, PO Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
e-mail: guerra@strw.leidenuniv.nl
² Instituto de Radioastronomía y Astrofísica (IRyA), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Campus Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico
³ ESO Garching, Karl-Schwarzschild-Str. 2, 85748 Garching bei Munchen, Germany
⁴ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QL, UK
⁵ Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, 3 Holmbury St Mary, Dorking, Surrey RH5 6NT, UK
⁶ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA
⁷ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Giovanni Celoria 16, 20133 Milano, Italy
⁸ Joint ALMA Observatory, Alonso de Córdova 3107, Vitacura, Santiago 763 0355, Chile
⁹ National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Los Abedules 3085 Oficina 701, Vitacura, Santiago 763 0000, Chile
¹⁰ The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, SOKENDAI, Osawa 2-21-1, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan

Received: 20 December 2023
Accepted: 4 April 2024

Abstract

Aims. To comprehend the efficiency of dust evolution within protoplanetary disks, it is crucial to conduct studies of these disks using high-resolution observations at multiple wavelengths with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).

Methods. In this work, we present high-frequency ALMA observations of the HL Tau disk using its Band 9 centered at a wavelength of 0.45 mm. These observations achieve the highest angular resolution in a protoplanetary disk to date, 12 milliarcseconds (mas), allowing the study of the dust emission at scales of 2 au. We used these data to extend the previously published multiwavelength analysis of the HL Tau disk, constraining the dust temperature, dust surface density, and maximum grain size throughout the disk. We performed this modeling for compact solid dust particles as well as for porous particles.

Results. Our new 0.45 mm data mainly trace optically thick emission, providing a tight constraint to the dust temperature profile. We derive maximum particle sizes of ~1 cm from the inner disk to ~60 au. Beyond this radius, we find particles between 300 µm and 1 mm. The total dust mass of the disk is 2.1 M_J with compact grains, and it increases to 6.3 M_J assuming porous particles. Moreover, an intriguing asymmetry is observed at 32 au in the northeast inner part of the HL Tau disk at 0.45 mm. We propose that this asymmetry is the outcome of a combination of factors, including the optically thick nature of the emission, the orientation of the disk, and a relatively large dust scale height of the grains that is preferentially traced at 0.45 mm. To validate this, we conducted a series of radiative transfer models using the software RADMC-3D. Our models varying dust masses and scale heights successfully replicate the observed asymmetry in the HL Tau disk. If this scenario is correct, our measured dust mass within 32 au would suggest a dust scale height H/R > 0.08 for the inner disk. Finally, the unprecedented resolution allowed us to probe the dust emission down to scales of a few au for the first time. We observed an increase in brightness temperature inside the estimated water snowline, and we speculate whether this might indicate a traffic-jam effect in the inner disk.

Conclusions. Our results show that 0.45 mm observations of protoplanetary disks can be used to robustly constrain the radial profile of their dust temperature. Additionally, the higher optical depths at this wavelength can be used to constrain the vertical scale height of the dust. Finally, these higher frequencies allow us to reach higher spatial resolutions, which have the potential to resolve the region within the water snowline in disks.