H 2 18 O in the Terrestrial Planet-forming Regions of Protoplanetary Disks
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Isotopologues play an important role in solar system cosmochemistry studies, revealing details of early planet formation physics and chemistry. Oxygen isotopes, as measured in solar system materials, reveal evidence for both mass-dependent fractionation processes and a mass-independent process commonly attributed to isotope-selective photodissociation of CO in the solar nebula. The sensitivity of JWST’s MIRI-MRS enables studies of isotopologues in the terrestrial planet-forming regions around nearby young stars. We report here on a search for H 2 18 O in 22 disks from the JDISC Survey with evidence for substantial water vapor reservoirs, with the goal of measuring H 2 16 O/H 2 18 O ratios, and potentially revealing the predicted enhancement of H 2 18 O caused by isotope-selective photodissociation. We find marginal detections of H 2 18 O in six disks, and a more significant detection of H 2 18 O in the disk around WSB 52. Modeling of the detected H 2 18 O lines assuming an interstellar medium (ISM) ratio of H 2 16 O/H 2 18 O predicts H 2 18 O features consistent with observations for four of the modeled disks, but stronger H 2 18 O features than are observed in three of the modeled disks, which includes WSB 52. Therefore, these latter three disks require a higher H 2 16 O/H
Source: The Astrophysical Journal
Institutions: Vassar College, California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Center for Astrophysics Harvard & Smithsonian, Texas State University, Weber State University, University of Michigan, Schmidt Sciences, University of Exeter, University of Maryland, College Park, NSF NOIRLab, Space Telescope Science Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $4,499
Award: G4615002072
OpenAlex ID: W7126014372