The ALMA-FAUST revolution: Hunting large-grains factories in protostellar outflow cavities
Planet formation models still face a crucial challenge: millimeter-sized dust grains in protoplanetary discs migrate rapidly inwards, hindering their growth into planetesimals – the building blocks of planets. However, recent high-resolution ALMA observations, taken as part of the FAUST Large Programme, suggest an alternative scenario. We have discovered dust-rich cavity walls associated with the protostellar objects IRS7B and L1551, located in the Corona Australis (CrA) and in the Taurus star-forming regions, respectively. The sub-mm spectral index (α) derived from Band 3 and Band 6 observations indicates possible grain growth in the outflow cavities. In this talk I will present new results from other young protostellar systems observed in ALMA-FAUST. I will discuss the implications of dust growth in outflow cavities and how this mechanism could overcome the radial drift barrier and potentially revolutionize our understanding of planet formation. I will also look at the impact of these dusty structures on the chemical evolution of protoplanetary systems.
Institutions
- Arcetri Astrophysical Observatory (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
- Published
- 2025-09-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17108824
- Primary Topic
- Urban Design and Spatial Analysis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00