JWST/MIRI Imaging Search for Kinematically Detected Protoplanetary Candidates

@article{cugno2026jwstmiri,
  title = {{JWST/MIRI Imaging Search for Kinematically Detected Protoplanetary Candidates}},
  author = {Gabriele Cugno and Myriam Benisty and Richard Teague and Anthony Boccaletti and Laurent Pueyo and Marshall Perrin and Mathilde Mâlin and Julien Girard and Valentin Christiaens and Polychronis Patapis and Kellen Lawson and Sean M. Andrews and Jaehan Bae and Marcelo Barraza-Alfaro and Markus J. Bonse and Margot Courtoux and Stefano Facchini and Misato Fukagawa and Greta Guidi and Ravit Helled and Thomas Henning and Jane Huang and Jens Kammerer and Charles J. Law and Giuseppe Lodato and Feng Long and François Ménard and Michael Meyer and Daniel J. Price and Christian Rab and Isabel Rebollido Vazquez and Christophe Pinte and Giovanni Rosotti and Sascha Quanz and Anibal Sierra and Jochen Stadler and Lucas M. Stapper and Tomas Stolker and David J. Wilner and Andrew J. Winter},
  journal = {The Astronomical Journal},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3847/1538-3881/aea6c8},
  url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/aea6c8},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - JWST/MIRI Imaging Search for Kinematically Detected Protoplanetary Candidates
AU  - Gabriele Cugno
AU  - Myriam Benisty
AU  - Richard Teague
AU  - Anthony Boccaletti
AU  - Laurent Pueyo
AU  - Marshall Perrin
AU  - Mathilde Mâlin
AU  - Julien Girard
AU  - Valentin Christiaens
AU  - Polychronis Patapis
AU  - Kellen Lawson
AU  - Sean M. Andrews
AU  - Jaehan Bae
AU  - Marcelo Barraza-Alfaro
AU  - Markus J. Bonse
AU  - Margot Courtoux
AU  - Stefano Facchini
AU  - Misato Fukagawa
AU  - Greta Guidi
AU  - Ravit Helled
AU  - Thomas Henning
AU  - Jane Huang
AU  - Jens Kammerer
AU  - Charles J. Law
AU  - Giuseppe Lodato
AU  - Feng Long
AU  - François Ménard
AU  - Michael Meyer
AU  - Daniel J. Price
AU  - Christian Rab
AU  - Isabel Rebollido Vazquez
AU  - Christophe Pinte
AU  - Giovanni Rosotti
AU  - Sascha Quanz
AU  - Anibal Sierra
AU  - Jochen Stadler
AU  - Lucas M. Stapper
AU  - Tomas Stolker
AU  - David J. Wilner
AU  - Andrew J. Winter
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/09
JO  - The Astronomical Journal
DO  - 10.3847/1538-3881/aea6c8
UR  - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/aea6c8
AB  - 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.
SN  - 0004-6256
SN  - 1538-3881
ER  -