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Pattern Motion of Spiral Arms Informs the Existence of Hidden Planets: A Case Study for MWC 758 and SAO 206462

Presentation #417.04 in the session “Extrasolar Planets: Direct Imaging 1”.

Published onJan 11, 2021
Pattern Motion of Spiral Arms Informs the Existence of Hidden Planets: A Case Study for MWC 758 and SAO 206462

Spiral arms have been discovered around more than a dozen of protoplanetary disks, and their formation mechanisms have been under debate. Two leading formation mechanisms, companion-disk interaction and gravitational instability induction, predict distinct motion patterns. By monitoring these systems with multi-epochs observations, here we characterize the motion pattern for the spirals around MWC 758 and SAO 206462: we can not only distinguish the formation mechanism for the spiral systems, but also trace the orbits for these spiral-arm-driving planets. These predicted drivers are ideal for targeted deep high-contrast imaging efforts using Keck and the James Webb Space Telescope.

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