{ "abstract": "Kinematic perturbations observed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array in CO line emission provide evidence for a population of embedded giant protoplanets shaping the structure of protoplanetary disks. We present JWST/MIRI F1140C ( λ = 11.3 μ m) coronagraphic observations of five protoplanetary disks—HD 163296, RXJ 1615.3–3255, RXJ 1842.9–3532, SY Cha, and LkCa 15—with the goal of directly detecting candidate protoplanets orbiting at ≳70 au that were previously inferred from gas kinematics. The data were analyzed using a bespoke methodology that combines subtraction of a reference point-spread function with forward modeling of partially resolved inner disk emission, which otherwise dominates the diffraction pattern in the images. This approach improves the sensitivity to young companions at small separations. No point source consistent with an embedded protoplanet is detected in any of the systems. Instead, in three systems we detect extended emission at 11.3 μ m tracing the outer disk out to radii comparable to those probed by CO. Injection tests indicate upper mass limits of roughly 3–20 M J at separations of a few hundred astronomical units, assuming no additional thermal contribution from the circumplanetary environment. Even with space-based observations, these limits remain mostly above the ∼1–5 M J masses inferred from disk kinematics, largely due to the limitations imposed by emission (and/or scattered light) contributions from both the inner disk and outer disk. These observations highlight the challenges of observing protoplanets embedded in their forming environment at large separation with JWST/MIRI. Lessons learned can inform future studies with the Extremely Large Telescope, which will probe separations where the occurrence rate of gas giants is expected to be higher.", "abstract_shown": true, "affiliations": [ "University of Zürich", "Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA)", "Massachusetts Institute of Technology", "Université PSL", "Space Telescope Science Institute", "Johns Hopkins University", "Université Paris-Saclay", "Institute for Particle Physics and Astrophysics", "University of Maryland", "NASA-GSFC", "Center for Astrophysics∣Harvard & Smithsonian", "University of Florida", "Niels Bohr Institute", "European Southern Observatory", "Università degli Studi di Milano", "Tohoku University", "Univ. Grenoble Alpes", "Columbia University", "University of Minnesota", "Peking University", "University of Michigan", "Monash University", "Max-Planck-Institut für extraterrestrische Physik", "University Observatory", "European Space Astronomy Centre (ESAC)", "Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México", "Leiden University", "Queen Mary University of London" ], "article_type": null, "arxiv": null, "author_total": 40, "authors": [ { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Gabriele Cugno", "orcid": "0000-0001-7255-3251" }, { "affs": [ 1 ], "name": "Myriam Benisty", "orcid": "0000-0002-7695-7605" }, { "affs": [ 2 ], "name": "Richard Teague", "orcid": "0000-0003-1534-5186" }, { "affs": [ 3 ], "name": "Anthony Boccaletti", "orcid": "0000-0001-9353-2724" }, { "affs": [ 4 ], "name": "Laurent Pueyo" }, { "affs": [ 4 ], "name": "Marshall Perrin", "orcid": "0000-0002-3191-8151" }, { "affs": [ 4, 5 ], "name": "Mathilde Mâlin", "orcid": "0000-0002-2918-8479" }, { "affs": [ 4 ], "name": "Julien Girard", "orcid": "0000-0001-8627-0404" }, { "affs": [ 6 ], "name": "Valentin Christiaens", "orcid": "0000-0002-0101-8814" }, { "affs": [ 7 ], "name": "Polychronis Patapis", "orcid": "0000-0001-8718-3732" }, { "affs": [ 8, 9 ], "name": "Kellen Lawson", "orcid": "0000-0002-6964-8732" }, { "affs": [ 10 ], "name": "Sean M. Andrews", "orcid": "0000-0003-2253-2270" }, { "affs": [ 11 ], "name": "Jaehan Bae", "orcid": "0000-0001-7258-770X" }, { "affs": [ 2, 12 ], "name": "Marcelo Barraza-Alfaro", "orcid": "0000-0001-6378-7873" }, { "affs": [ 7, 13 ], "name": "Markus J. Bonse" }, { "affs": [ 3 ], "name": "Margot Courtoux" }, { "affs": [ 14 ], "name": "Stefano Facchini", "orcid": "0000-0003-4689-2684" }, { "affs": [ 15 ], "name": "Misato Fukagawa", "orcid": "0000-0003-1117-9213" }, { "affs": [ 16 ], "name": "Greta Guidi" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Ravit Helled" }, { "affs": [ 1 ], "name": "Thomas Henning", "orcid": "0000-0002-1493-300X" }, { "affs": [ 17 ], "name": "Jane Huang", "orcid": "0000-0001-6947-6072" }, { "affs": [ 13 ], "name": "Jens Kammerer", "orcid": "0000-0003-2769-0438" }, { "affs": [ 18 ], "name": "Charles J. Law", "orcid": "0000-0003-1413-1776" }, { "affs": [ 14 ], "name": "Giuseppe Lodato", "orcid": "0000-0002-2357-7692" }, { "affs": [ 19 ], "name": "Feng Long", "orcid": "0000-0002-7607-719X" }, { "affs": [ 16 ], "name": "François Ménard", "orcid": "0000-0002-1637-7393" }, { "affs": [ 20 ], "name": "Michael Meyer", "orcid": "0000-0003-1227-3084" }, { "affs": [ 21 ], "name": "Daniel J. Price", "orcid": "0000-0002-4716-4235" }, { "affs": [ 22, 23 ], "name": "Christian Rab", "orcid": "0000-0003-1817-6576" }, { "affs": [ 24 ], "name": "Isabel Rebollido Vazquez" }, { "affs": [ 16 ], "name": "Christophe Pinte", "orcid": "0000-0001-5907-5179" }, { "affs": [ 14 ], "name": "Giovanni Rosotti", "orcid": "0000-0003-4853-5736" }, { "affs": [ 7 ], "name": "Sascha Quanz", "orcid": "0000-0003-3829-7412" }, { "affs": [ 25 ], "name": "Anibal Sierra", "orcid": "0000-0002-5991-8073" }, { "affs": [ 13 ], "name": "Jochen Stadler", "orcid": "0000-0002-0491-143X" }, { "affs": [ 1 ], "name": "Lucas M. Stapper", "orcid": "0000-0001-9524-3408" }, { "affs": [ 26 ], "name": "Tomas Stolker", "orcid": "0000-0002-5823-3072" }, { "affs": [ 10 ], "name": "David J. Wilner", "orcid": "0000-0003-1526-7587" }, { "affs": [ 27 ], "name": "Andrew J. Winter", "orcid": "0000-0002-7501-9801" } ], "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dqfkq15b6sqcs.bib", "cited_by": 0, "doi": "10.3847/1538-3881/aea6c8", "fulltext_url": null, "id": "dqfkq15b6sqcs", "issns": [ "0004-6256", "1538-3881" ], "landing_url": "https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/aea6c8", "language": "en", "licence": "CC-BY-4.0", "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0", "licence_source": "article", "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "metadata_licence": null, "native_subjects": [ [ "hal", "0.phys" ], [ "hal", "1.phys.astr" ], [ "openalex", "3103|Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies" ] ], "openalex": "W7213372851", "pdf_url": "https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/aea6c8/pdf", "pmcid": null, "pmid": null, "published": "2026-10-09", "publisher": "American Astronomical Society", "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dqfkq15b6sqcs.ris", "sources": [ { "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:14Z", "native_id": "10.3847/1538-3881/aea6c8", "source": "crossref", "url": "https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/aea6c8" }, { "first_seen": "2026-10-31T12:20:56Z", "native_id": "hal-05845898", "source": "hal", "url": "https://hal.science/hal-05845898v1" } ], "subjects": [ { "field": "astronomy", "origin": "openalex:3103|Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies", "subfield": "stellar" } ], "title": "JWST/MIRI Imaging Search for Kinematically Detected Protoplanetary Candidates", "title_text": "JWST/MIRI Imaging Search for Kinematically Detected Protoplanetary Candidates", "type": "peer-reviewed", "updated_at": "2026-11-08T12:20:49Z", "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/dqfkq15b6sqcs", "venue": "The Astronomical Journal", "versions": [] }