The JWST Early Release Science Program for Direct Observations of Exoplanetary Systems. VI. Evidence for Radially Evolving Icy Grains in the HD 141569A Disk via NIRCam Coronagraphic Imaging

Abstract We present JWST NIRCam coronagraphic observations of the HD 141569A circumstellar disk, obtained as part of the JWST Early Release Science program. The observations recover the multi-ringed structure seen in previous shorter-wavelength observations, but at filters centered on the ∼3 μ m water ice absorption feature and a complementary continuum region (F300M and F360M, respectively). The observations reveal apparent absorption between the F300M and F360M filters that decreases with radius, with a notable change around 200 au, between the innermost and outermost two rings. These results are consistent whether the data is reduced via deconvolution or through a forward-modeling approach. We demonstrate that these changes suggest a radial decrease in the water ice mass fraction by a factor of ∼3–10 and possibly a change in minimum grain size. We do not detect any point sources within the system and can exclude planetary companions 2 Jupiter masses and greater beyond 1 ″ radius (∼111 au). These observations and the subsequent analysis illustrate a robust pathway for using JWST/NIRCam to characterize the distribution of water ice in other circumstellar disks. We highlight some of the early lessons learned from this work that we hope will be useful for future circumstellar disk observation planning and analysis.

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Publication Details

Journal
The Astrophysical Journal
Published
2025-11-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae0615
Primary Topic
Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies
Type
article
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article

The JWST Early Release Science Program for Direct Observations of Exoplanetary Systems. VI. Evidence for Radially Evolving Icy Grains in the HD 141569A Disk via NIRCam Coronagraphic Imaging

Brenda C. Matthews, Jens Kammerer, M. Janson, Andrew Skemer et al.
The Astrophysical Journal
Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies
article

The JWST Early Release Science Program for Direct Observations of Exoplanetary Systems. VI. Evidence for Radially Evolving Icy Grains in the HD 141569A Disk via NIRCam Coronagraphic Imaging

Brenda C. Matthews, Jens Kammerer, M. Janson, Andrew Skemer, Elena Manjavacas, Maxwell A. Millar‐Blanchaer, Sasha Hinkley, Katie A. Crotts, C. A. Grady, Élodie Choquet, Isabel Rebollido, William O. Balmer, Per Calissendorff, Mark Booth, Karl Stapelfeldt, Thayne Currie, Emily Rickman, Niall Whiteford, Stanimir Metchev, Shrishmoy Ray, Beth Biller, M. Kim, Marshall D. Perrin, Paul Kalas, Sebastián Marino, J. H. Girard, Kimberly Ward-Duong, Schuyler Wolff, Aarynn L. Carter, Michael R. Meyer, A. Zurlo, Kellen Lawson, E. Pantin, Christopher A. Theissen, Olivier Absil, Gabriele Cugno, Bin Ren, Genaro Suárez, M. C. Wyatt, Kielan K. W. Hoch, Camilla Danielski, Jarron Leisenring, Elisabeth C. Matthews, A. Boccaletti, A. Quirrenbach, Ben J. Sutlieff, Taichi Uyama, Christine Chen, Jason Wang, Pierre-Olivier Lagage
article en

Abstract

Abstract We present JWST NIRCam coronagraphic observations of the HD 141569A circumstellar disk, obtained as part of the JWST Early Release Science program. The observations recover the multi-ringed structure seen in previous shorter-wavelength observations, but at filters centered on the ∼3 μ m water ice absorption feature and a complementary continuum region (F300M and F360M, respectively). The observations reveal apparent absorption between the F300M and F360M filters that decreases with radius, with a notable change around 200 au, between the innermost and outermost two rings. These results are consistent whether the data is reduced via deconvolution or through a forward-modeling approach. We demonstrate that these changes suggest a radial decrease in the water ice mass fraction by a factor of ∼3–10 and possibly a change in minimum grain size. We do not detect any point sources within the system and can exclude planetary companions 2 Jupiter masses and greater beyond 1 ″ radius (∼111 au). These observations and the subsequent analysis illustrate a robust pathway for using JWST/NIRCam to characterize the distribution of water ice in other circumstellar disks. We highlight some of the early lessons learned from this work that we hope will be useful for future circumstellar disk observation planning and analysis.

The Astrophysical JournalVol. 994(2)
Northwestern University (US), California Institute of Technology (US), Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics (CA), Western University (CA), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Space Telescope Science Institute (US), Goddard Space Flight Center (US), European Southern Observatory (DE), Jet Propulsion Laboratory (US), American Museum of Natural History (US), University of Arizona (US), Johns Hopkins University (US), University of California, Santa Barbara (US), California State University, Northridge (US), University of Liège (BE), Stockholm University (SE), The University of Queensland (AU), University of California, Santa Cruz (US), Smith College (US), University of Zurich (CH), Université Paris Cité (FR), Aix-Marseille Université (FR), University of Exeter (GB), University of Cambridge (GB), Subaru (Japan) (JP), Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (FR), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (FR), Université Paris-Saclay (FR), University of Michigan (US), Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory (IT), Observatoire de Paris (FR), University of California San Diego (US), University of Warwick (GB), Sorbonne Université (FR), Astrophysique, Instrumentation et Modélisation (FR), European Space Astronomy Centre (ES), Royal Observatory (GB), Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (DE), Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté (FR), Laboratoire d’études spatiales et d’instrumentation en astrophysique (FR), Scottish Universities Physics Alliance (GB), Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur (FR), CEA Paris-Saclay (FR), AlbaNova (SE), Eureka Scientific (US), National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (JP), University College London (GB), The University of Texas at San Antonio (US), UK Astronomy Technology Centre (GB), Friedrich Schiller University Jena (DE), Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (US), Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (GR), Universidad Diego Portales (CL), University of California, Berkeley (US), University of Edinburgh (GB)
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Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies
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