JWST/MIRI Imaging Search for Kinematically Detected Protoplanetary Candidates
Abstract
Kinematic perturbations observed with ALMA 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 μm) coronagraphic observations of five protoplanetary disks, HD163296, RXJ1615.3-3255, RXJ1842.9-3532, SY Cha, and LkCa 15, with the goal of directly detecting candidate protoplanets orbiting at ≳ 70 au previously inferred from gas kinematics. The data were analyzed using a bespoke methodology that combines reference PSF subtraction 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 μm tracing the outer disk out to radii comparable to those probed by CO. Injection tests indicate upper mass limits of roughly 3−20 MJ at separations of a few hundred au, assuming no additional thermal contribution from circumplanetary environment. Even with space-based observations, these limits remain mostly above the ∼1−5 MJ masses inferred from disk kinematics, largely due to the limitations imposed by emission (and/or scattered light) contributions from both the inner 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.
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BibTeX
@misc{cugno2026jwstmiri,
title = {{JWST/MIRI Imaging Search for Kinematically Detected Protoplanetary Candidates}},
author = {G. Cugno and M. Benisty and R. Teague and A. Boccaletti and L. Pueyo and M. Perrin and M. Mâlin and J. Girard and V. Christiaens and P. Patapis and K. Lawson and S. M. Andrews and J. Bae and M. Barraza-Alfaro and M. J. Bonse and M. Courtoux and S. Facchini and M. Fukagawa and G. Guidi and R. Helled and T. Henning and J. Huang and J. Kammerer and C. Law and G. Lodato and F. Long and F. Ménard and M. Meyer and D. J. Price and C. Rab and I. Rebollido Vazquez and L. M. Stapper and T. Stolker and D. Wilner and A. J. Winter},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.13123},
eprint = {2609.13123},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.13123},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - JWST/MIRI Imaging Search for Kinematically Detected Protoplanetary Candidates
AU - G. Cugno
AU - M. Benisty
AU - R. Teague
AU - A. Boccaletti
AU - L. Pueyo
AU - M. Perrin
AU - M. Mâlin
AU - J. Girard
AU - V. Christiaens
AU - P. Patapis
AU - K. Lawson
AU - S. M. Andrews
AU - J. Bae
AU - M. Barraza-Alfaro
AU - M. J. Bonse
AU - M. Courtoux
AU - S. Facchini
AU - M. Fukagawa
AU - G. Guidi
AU - R. Helled
AU - T. Henning
AU - J. Huang
AU - J. Kammerer
AU - C. Law
AU - G. Lodato
AU - F. Long
AU - F. Ménard
AU - M. Meyer
AU - D. J. Price
AU - C. Rab
AU - I. Rebollido Vazquez
AU - L. M. Stapper
AU - T. Stolker
AU - D. Wilner
AU - A. J. Winter
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/11
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.13123
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.13123
AB - Kinematic perturbations observed with ALMA 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 μm) coronagraphic observations of five protoplanetary disks, HD163296, RXJ1615.3-3255, RXJ1842.9-3532, SY Cha, and LkCa 15, with the goal of directly detecting candidate protoplanets orbiting at ≳ 70 au previously inferred from gas kinematics. The data were analyzed using a bespoke methodology that combines reference PSF subtraction 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 μm 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 au, assuming no additional thermal contribution from 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 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.
ER -