Observational Characteristics of Circumplanetary-mass-object Disks in the Era of James Webb Space Telescope

Abstract

Recent observations have confirmed circumplanetary disks (CPDs) embedded in parental protoplanetary disks (PPDs). On the other hand, planetary-mass companions and planetary-mass objects (PMOs) are likely to harbor their own accretion disks. Unlike PPDs, CPDs and other disks around planet analogs are generally too compact to be spatially resolved by current instrumentation. In this study, we generate over 4000 spectral energy distributions of circum-PMO disks (CPMODs) with various host temperature and disk properties, which can be categorized into four prototypes, i.e., full, pretransitional, transitional, and evolved CPMODs. We propose a classification scheme based on their near-to-mid-infrared colors. Using those CPMOD models, we synthesize JWST (NIRCam and MIRI) photometry for F444W, F1000W, and F2550W wide filters. We show that F444W−F1000W and F444−F2550W colors can be applied to distinguish different types of CPMODs, especially for those around hot hosts. Our results indicate that the ongoing and future JWST observations are promising to unveil structures and properties of CPMODs.

Keywords

• Spectral energy distribution
• Hydrodynamical simulations
• Radiative transfer simulations
• Circumstellar disks
• Substellar companion stars
• Protoplanetary disks