Spiral arms in scattered light images of protoplanetary discs: are they the signposts of planets?

• Published in: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Vol. 451; no. 2; pp. 1147 - 1157
• Main Authors: Juhász, A., Benisty, M., Pohl, A., Dullemond, C. P., Dominik, C., Paardekooper, S.-J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Oxford University Press 01.08.2015
• Subjects: Cosmology; Density; Discs; Disks; Fluid flow; Fluid mechanics; Hydrodynamics; Perturbation methods; Planets; Pressure; Protoplanetary disks; Scattering; Simulation; Spirals; stars: formation; protoplanetary discs; planet–disc interactions; scattering; circumstellar matter; infrared: stars

One of the striking discoveries of protoplanetary disc research in recent years are the spiral arms seen in several transitional discs in polarized scattered light. An interesting interpretation of the observed spiral features is that they are density waves launched by one or more embedded (proto)pl...