Mid-infrared Imaging of SR 12 c with JWST/MIRI: Grain Growth in an Evolved Circumplanetary Disk
Abstract
The physical properties of circumplanetary disks offer insights into the formation of giant planets and their satellites. The circumbinary planetary-mass companion SR 12 c (1200 au from SR 12 AB) hosts an isolated dust disk directly detected with ALMA. We present JWST/MIRI imaging of SR 12 c from 5.6 to 21 μm and analyze its spectral energy distribution from infrared to submillimeter wavelengths. Phenomenologically, the dust disk can be described by a two-component blackbody with large contrasts in characteristic temperatures and radii. Physically motivated models with varied geometries and heating mechanisms suggest a predominantly flat, irradiation-heated disk with a smaller contribution from viscous dissipation. The disk is inferred to be compact, with an inner radius of ~3 RJup. The outer radius is only loosely constrained, with a characteristic value of ~3 au. The lack of strong 10 μm excess emission suggests significant grain growth and dust settling. We also find that SR 12 c is broadly consistent with the empirical star-disk scaling relations, providing context for its possible formation pathway. These results demonstrate the power of combining mid-infrared and submillimeter observations with disk modeling to better understand the physical properties of circumplanetary disks.
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BibTeX
@misc{wu2026midinfrared,
title = {{Mid-infrared Imaging of SR 12 c with JWST/MIRI: Grain Growth in an Evolved Circumplanetary Disk}},
author = {Ya-Lin Wu and Claire O. Finley and Brendan P. Bowler and Ning Chen and Yuhiko Aoyama and Gregory J. Herczeg and Catherine C. Espaillat and William Best and Ian Czekala and Katherine B. Follette and Adam L. Kraus and Raquel A. Martinez and Connor E. Robinson and Quang H. Tran and Kimberly Ward-Duong and Yifan Zhou},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.24776},
eprint = {2610.24776},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.24776},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Mid-infrared Imaging of SR 12 c with JWST/MIRI: Grain Growth in an Evolved Circumplanetary Disk
AU - Ya-Lin Wu
AU - Claire O. Finley
AU - Brendan P. Bowler
AU - Ning Chen
AU - Yuhiko Aoyama
AU - Gregory J. Herczeg
AU - Catherine C. Espaillat
AU - William Best
AU - Ian Czekala
AU - Katherine B. Follette
AU - Adam L. Kraus
AU - Raquel A. Martinez
AU - Connor E. Robinson
AU - Quang H. Tran
AU - Kimberly Ward-Duong
AU - Yifan Zhou
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/17
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.24776
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.24776
AB - The physical properties of circumplanetary disks offer insights into the formation of giant planets and their satellites. The circumbinary planetary-mass companion SR 12 c (1200 au from SR 12 AB) hosts an isolated dust disk directly detected with ALMA. We present JWST/MIRI imaging of SR 12 c from 5.6 to 21 μm and analyze its spectral energy distribution from infrared to submillimeter wavelengths. Phenomenologically, the dust disk can be described by a two-component blackbody with large contrasts in characteristic temperatures and radii. Physically motivated models with varied geometries and heating mechanisms suggest a predominantly flat, irradiation-heated disk with a smaller contribution from viscous dissipation. The disk is inferred to be compact, with an inner radius of ~3 R_Jup. The outer radius is only loosely constrained, with a characteristic value of ~3 au. The lack of strong 10 μm excess emission suggests significant grain growth and dust settling. We also find that SR 12 c is broadly consistent with the empirical star-disk scaling relations, providing context for its possible formation pathway. These results demonstrate the power of combining mid-infrared and submillimeter observations with disk modeling to better understand the physical properties of circumplanetary disks.
ER -