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The European FP7 project DIANA has performed a coherent analysis of a large set of observational data of protoplanetary disks by means of thermo-chemical disk models. The collected data include extinction-corrected stellar UV and X-ray input spectra (as seen by the disk), photometric fluxes, low and high resolution spectra, interferometric data, emission line fluxes, line velocity profiles and line maps, which probe the dust, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and the gas in these objects. We define and apply a standardized modeling procedure to fit these data by state-of-the-art modeling codes ( ProDiMo , MCFOST , MCMax ), solving continuum and line radiative transfer (RT), disk chemistry, and the heating and cooling balance for both the gas and the dust. 3D diagnostic RT tools (e.g., FLiTs) are eventually used to predict all available observations from the same disk model, the DIANA-standard model. Our aim is to determine the physical parameters of the disks, such as total gas and dust masses, the dust properties, the disk shape, and the chemical structure in these disks. We allow for up to two radial disk zones to obtain our best-fitting models that have about 20 free parameters. This approach is novel and unique in its completeness and level of consistency. It allows us to break some of the degeneracies arising from pure Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) modeling. In this paper, we present the results from pure SED fitting for 27 objects and from the all inclusive DIANA-standard models for 14 objects. Our analysis shows a number of Herbig Ae and T Tauri stars with very cold and massive outer disks which are situated at least partly in the shadow of a tall and gas-rich inner disk. The disk masses derived are often in excess to previously published values, since these disks are partially optically thick even at millimeter wavelength and so cold that they emit less than in the Rayleigh–Jeans limit. We fit most infrared to millimeter emission line fluxes within a factor better than 3, simultaneously with SED, PAH features and radial brightness profiles extracted from images at various wavelengths. However, some line fluxes may deviate by a larger factor, and sometimes we find puzzling data which the models cannot reproduce. Some of these issues are probably caused by foreground cloud absorption or object variability. Our data collection, the fitted physical disk parameters as well as the full model output are available to the community through an online database ( http://www.univie.ac.at/diana ).

Carbonates on large Solar System bodies like Earth and Mars 1 , 2 (the latter represented by the meteorite ALH84001) form through the weathering of silicates in a watery (CO 3 ) 2- solution. The presence of carbonates in interplanetary dust particles and asteroids (again, represented by meteorites) is not completely understood, but has been attributed to aqueous alteration on a large parent body, which was subsequently shattered into smaller pieces. Despite efforts 3 , 4 , 5 , the presence of carbonates outside the Solar System has hitherto not been established 6 , 7 . Here we report the discovery of the carbonates calcite and dolomite in the dust shells of evolved stars, where the conditions are too primitive for the formation of large parent bodies with liquid water. These carbonates, therefore, are not formed by aqueous alteration, but perhaps through processes on the surfaces of dust or ice grains or gas phase condensation. The presence of carbonates which did not form by aqueous alteration suggests that some of the carbonates found in Solar System bodies no longer provide direct evidence that liquid water was present on large parent bodies early in the history of the Solar System 8 .

Terrestrial and sub-Neptune planets are expected to form in the inner (less than 10 au ) regions of protoplanetary disks 1 . Water plays a key role in their formation 2 – 4 , although it is yet unclear whether water molecules are formed in situ or transported from the outer disk 5 , 6 . So far Spitzer Space Telescope observations have only provided water luminosity upper limits for dust-depleted inner disks 7 , similar to PDS 70, the first system with direct confirmation of protoplanet presence 8 , 9 . Here we report JWST observations of PDS 70, a benchmark target to search for water in a disk hosting a large (approximately 54  au ) planet-carved gap separating an inner and outer disk 10 , 11 . Our findings show water in the inner disk of PDS 70. This implies that potential terrestrial planets forming therein have access to a water reservoir. The column densities of water vapour suggest in-situ formation via a reaction sequence involving O, H 2 and/or OH, and survival through water self-shielding 5 . This is also supported by the presence of CO 2 emission, another molecule sensitive to ultraviolet photodissociation. Dust shielding, and replenishment of both gas and small dust from the outer disk, may also play a role in sustaining the water reservoir 12 . Our observations also reveal a strong variability of the mid-infrared spectral energy distribution, pointing to a change of inner disk geometry.  Observations with the sensitive mid-infrared spectrometer MIRI on board JWST reveal the presence of a water vapour reservoir in the terrestrial plant-forming zone of the young planetary system PDS 70.

Some planetary systems harbour debris disks containing planetesimals such as asteroids and comets. Collisions between such bodies produce small dust particles, the spectral features of which reveal their composition and, hence, that of their parent bodies. A measurement of the composition of olivine crystals (Mg2−2xFe2xSiO4) has been done for the protoplanetary disk HD 100546 and for olivine crystals in the warm inner parts of planetary systems. The latter compares well with the iron-rich olivine in asteroids (x ≈ 0.29). In the cold outskirts of the β Pictoris system, an analogue to the young Solar System, olivine crystals were detected but their composition remained undetermined, leaving unknown how the composition of the bulk of Solar System cometary olivine grains compares with that of extrasolar comets. Here we report the detection of the 69-micrometre-wavelength band of olivine crystals in the spectrum of β Pictoris. Because the disk is optically thin, we can associate the crystals with an extrasolar proto-Kuiper belt a distance of 15–45 astronomical units from the star (one astronomical unit is the Sun–Earth distance), determine their magnesium-rich composition (x = 0.01 ± 0.001) and show that they make up 3.6 ± 1.0 per cent of the total dust mass. These values are strikingly similar to those for the dust emitted by the most primitive comets in the Solar System, even though β Pictoris is more massive and more luminous and has a different planetary system architecture.

Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) display many energetic phenomena—broad emission lines, X-rays, relativistic jets, radio lobes—originating from matter falling onto a supermassive black hole. It is widely accepted that orientation effects play a major role in explaining the observational appearance of AGNs. Seen from certain directions, circum-nuclear dust clouds would block our view of the central powerhouse 1 , 2 . Indirect evidence suggests that the dust clouds form a parsec-sized torus-shaped distribution. This explanation, however, remains unproved, as even the largest telescopes have not been able to resolve the dust structures. Here we report interferometric mid-infrared observations that spatially resolve these structures in the galaxy NGC 1068. The observations reveal warm (320 K) dust in a structure 2.1 parsec thick and 3.4 parsec in diameter, surrounding a smaller hot structure. As such a configuration of dust clouds would collapse in a time much shorter than the active phase of the AGN 3 , this observation requires a continual input of kinetic energy to the cloud system from a source coexistent with the AGN.

In 1981, the idea of a superwind that ends the life of cool giant stars was proposed1. Extreme oxygen-rich giants, OH/IR stars, develop superwinds with the highest mass-loss rates known so far, up to a few 10−4 solar masses (M⊙) per year2–12, informing our understanding of the maximum mass-loss rate achieved during the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase. A conundrum arises whereby the observationally determined duration of the superwind phase is too short for these stars to lose enough mass to become white dwarfs2–4,6,8–10. Here we report on the detection of spiral structures around two cornerstone extreme OH/IR stars, OH 26.5 + 0.6 and OH 30.1 − 0.7, thereby identifying them as wide binary systems. Hydrodynamic simulations show that the companion’s gravitational attraction creates an equatorial density enhancement mimicking a short, extreme superwind phase, thereby solving the decades-old conundrum. This discovery restricts the maximum mass-loss rate of AGB stars to around the single-scattering radiation pressure limit of a few 10−5 M⊙ yr−1. This has crucial implications for nucleosynthetic yields, planet survival and the wind-driving mechanism.The decades-old concept of a ‘superwind’ may not apply to extreme oxygen-rich asymptotic giant branch stars since a shell of enhanced circumstellar density (mimicking a superwind) can be produced through binary interaction rather than mass loss.

Carbon is an essential element for life but how much can be delivered to young planets is still an open question. The chemical characterization of planet-forming disks is a crucial step in our understanding of the diversity and habitability of exoplanets. Very low-mass stars (less than 0.2 M⊙) are interesting targets because they host a rich population of terrestrial planets. Here we present the James Webb Space Telescope detection of abundant hydrocarbons in the disk of a very low-mass star obtained as part of the Mid-InfraRed Instrument mid-INfrared Disk Survey (MINDS). In addition to very strong and broad emission from C2H2 and its 13C12CH2 isotopologue, C4H2, benzene and possibly CH4 are identified, but water, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and silicate features are weak or absent. The lack of small silicate grains indicates that we can look deep down into this disk. These detections testify to an active warm hydrocarbon chemistry with a high C/O ratio larger than unity in the inner 0.1 astronomical units (AU) of this disk, perhaps due to destruction of carbonaceous grains. The exceptionally high C2H2/CO2 and C2H2/H2O column density ratios indicate that oxygen is locked up in icy pebbles and planetesimals outside the water iceline. This, in turn, will have important consequences for the composition of forming exoplanets.Highly abundant hydrocarbons in a very low-mass star’s disk are detected using the JWST. This unique chemical composition is probably due to the destruction of carbon grains, and the resulting high gaseous C/O ratio may have a profound impact on the composition of growing exoplanets.

Meteorites contain micrometer-sized graphite grains with embedded titanium carbide grains. Although isotopic analysis identifies asymptotic giant branch stars as the birth sites of these grains, there is no direct observational identification of these grains in astronomical sources. We report that infrared wavelength spectra of gas-phase titanium carbide nanocrystals derived in the laboratory show a prominent feature at a wavelength of 20.1 micrometers, which compares well to a similar feature in observed spectra of postasymptotic giant branch stars. It is concluded that titanium carbide forms during a short (approximately 100 years) phase of catastrophic mass loss (>0.001 solar masses per year) in dying, low-mass stars.

Silicate dust in the interstellar medium is observed to be amorphous 1 , yet silicate dust in comets 2 , 3 and interplanetary dust particles 4 is sometimes partially crystalline. The dust in disks that are thought to be forming planets around some young stars 5 , 6 also appears to be partially crystalline. These observations suggest that as the dust goes from the precursor clouds to a planetary system, it must undergo some processing, but the nature and extent of this processing remain unknown. Here we report observations of highly crystalline silicate dust in the disks surrounding binary red-giant stars. The dust was created in amorphous form in the outer atmospheres of the red giants, and therefore must be processed in the disks to become crystalline. The temperatures in these disks are too low for the grains to anneal; therefore, some low-temperature process must be responsible. As the physical properties of the disks around young stars and red giants are similar, our results suggest that low-temperature crystallization of silicate grains also can occur in protoplanetary systems.

Our Solar System was formed from a cloud of gas and dust. Most of the dust mass is contained in amorphous silicates 1 , yet crystalline silicates are abundant throughout the Solar System, reflecting the thermal and chemical alteration of solids during planet formation. (Even primitive bodies such as comets contain crystalline silicates 2 .) Little is known about the evolution of the dust that forms Earth-like planets. Here we report spatially resolved detections and compositional analyses of these building blocks in the innermost two astronomical units of three proto-planetary disks. We find the dust in these regions to be highly crystallized, more so than any other dust observed in young stars until now. In addition, the outer region of one star has equal amounts of pyroxene and olivine, whereas the inner regions are dominated by olivine. The spectral shape of the inner-disk spectra shows surprising similarity with Solar System comets. Radial-mixing models naturally explain this resemblance as well as the gradient in chemical composition. Our observations imply that silicates crystallize before any terrestrial planets are formed, consistent with the composition of meteorites in the Solar System.