SCExAO/CHARIS Imaging of a Candidate Protoplanet/Planet-Induced Structure Around a Young Star

We present near-infrared direct imaging/spectroscopy of a nearby, young star, obtained with Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics (SCExAO) system coupled with the CHARIS integral field spectrograph and HiCIAO camera. Eight SCExAO data sets using two different instruments obtained over a two year period resolve multiple spiral arms and identify a concentrated emission source at sub-arcsecond separations. The position of this source is nearly identical to the predicted location of a (proto-)planet based on recent modeling of complementary data, has no strong counterpart in polarized light, and lies interior to the system's mm dust ring. Possible explanations for this feature include a locally bright, low-polarization disk feature, a protoplanet with a large circumplanetary disk, or a region of the disk puffed up by a nearby, unseen protoplanet.