Hydrocarbons in Protoplanetary Disk Spectrum (MIRI)

This graphic presents some of the results from the MIRI Mid-INfrared Disk Survey (MINDS), which aims to build a bridge between the chemical inventory of disks and the properties of exoplanets. In a new study, a science team explored the region around a very low-mass star of 0.11 solar masses (known as ISO-ChaI 147). They found that the gas in the planet-forming region of the star is rich in carbon. This could mean that the building blocks for planets may lack carbon because all of the carbon-containing chemicals have evaporated and been lost into the surrounding gas. As a result, any rocky planets that form might be carbon-poor.

The spectrum revealed by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) shows the richest hydrocarbon chemistry seen to date in a protoplanetary disk, consisting of 13 carbon-bearing molecules. This includes the first extrasolar detection of ethane (C₂H₆). The team also successfully detected ethylene (C₂H₄), propyne (C₃H₄), and the methyl radical CH₃, for the first time in a protoplanetary disk.

This graphic highlights the detections of ethane (C₂H₆), methane (CH₄), propyne (C₃H₄), cyanoacetylene (HC₃N), and the methyl radical CH₃.