Radial distribution of the carbonaceous nano-grains in the protoplanetary disk around HD 169142

Abstract

Context. HD 169142 is part of the class of (pre-)transitional protoplanetary disks showing multiple carbon nanodust spectroscopic signatures (aromatic, aliphatic) dominating the infrared spectrum. Precise constraints on the spatial distribution and properties of carbonaceous dust particles are essential to understanding the physics, radiative transfer processes, and chemistry of the disk. The HD 169142 disk is seen almost face-on and thus it offers a unique opportunity to study the dust radial evolution in disks. Aims. We investigate the spatial distribution of the carriers of several dust aromatic emission features of the disk across a broad spatial range (10–200 AU) as well as their properties. Methods. We analysed imaging and spectroscopic observations in the 8–12 µm range from the VLT Imager and Spectrometer for mid-Infrared (VISIR) at the Very Large Telescope (VLT), as well as adaptive optics spectroscopic observations in the 3–4 µm range from the Nasmyth Adaptive Optics System – Near-Infrared Imager and Spectrograph (NACO) at VLT. The data probe the spatial variation of the flux in the 3.3 µm, 8.6 µm, and 11.3 µm aromatic bands. To constrain the radial distribution of carbonaceous nano-grains, the observations were compared to model predictions using The Heterogeneous dust Evolution Model for Interstellar Solids (THEMIS), which is integrated into the POLARIS radiative transfer code by calculating the thermal and stochastic heating of micro-and nanometer-sized dust grains for a given disk structure. Results. Our data show predominant nano-particle emission at all radii (accessible with our resolution of about 0.1″ or ~12 AU at 3 µm and ~0.3″, 35 AU at 10 µm) in the HD 169142 disk. This unambiguously shows that carbonaceous nano-grains dominate radiatively the infrared spectrum in most of the disk, a finding that has been suggested in previous studies. In order to account for both VISIR and NACO emission maps, we show the need for aromatic particles distributed within the disk from the outermost regions to a radius of 20 AU, corresponding to the outer limit of the inner cavity derived from previous observations. In the inner cavity, these aromatic particles might be present but their abundance would then be significantly decreased.