Journal Article

JWST/MIRI Hydrocarbon and Water Absorption in the Wind of a Young Disk: Signatures of Pebble Drift and Carbon Grain Sublimation

Zhang, Ke, Waggoner, Abygail, Tabone, Benot, and The JDISCS Collaboration , and The JDISCS Collaboration, Blake, Geoffrey A, Najita, Joan, Arabhavi, Aditya M, Pontoppidan, Klaus M, Krijt, Sebastiaan, Pinilla, Paola, Carpenter, John, Kanwar, Jayatee, Colmenares, María José, Bergin, Edwin A, Cieza, Lucas, Mauco, Karina, Pascucci, Ilaria, Miley, James, Anderson, Alexa R, Rosotti, Giovanni, Raul, Eshan, Vioque, Miguel, Kaeufer, Till, Narang, Mayank, Houge, Adrien, Carr, John, Dahl, Emma, Williams, Jonathan P, Salyk, Colette, Long, Feng

2026

Overview

We present JWST/MIRI-MRS observations of ISO-Oph 37, a highly inclined flat-spectrum (≲1 Myr old) source, to investigate the chemical composition and dynamical origin of its inner-disk gas. The spectrum reveals a rich combination of molecular emission and absorption: H2O, CO, and OH are detected in emission, while strong absorption is observed from CO, H2O, CO2, HCN, C2H2, and CH4, with no detectable ice absorption features. Local thermodynamic equilibrium slab modeling of the absorption yields excitation temperatures of Tex ∼ 400–600 K and column densities of logN/cm2∼16 –19, characteristic of warm gas located within the inner few astronomical unit. The absorption lines are significantly blueshifted relative to the systemic velocity, with mid-IR lines exhibiting larger shifts than near-IR CO absorption. This velocity structure points to a velocity- and temperature-stratified molecular disk wind. In this framework, the absorption directly samples disk material lifted from the inner disk surface, preserving the chemical imprint of the wind-launching region. Along the line of sight, ISO-Oph 37 is unusually hydrocarbon-rich compared to other known absorption systems (GV Tau N and IRS 46), exhibiting high (C2H2+CH4)/HCN, (C2H2+CH4)/CO, and H2O/CO column density ratios, while the CO and HCN columns remain broadly typical. We find that these molecular ratios are best explained by enhancement of both hydrocarbons and water, driven by inward drift and sublimation of icy pebbles and by thermal processing of carbonaceous grains at the soot line. ISO-Oph 37 thus demonstrates that carbon-rich inner-disk chemistry can be established early in disk evolution and that it can be directly probed through molecular absorption in disk winds.

• Publisher: IOP Publishing
• Subject: Astrochemistry / Astronomy / Carbon / Carbon dioxide / Chemical composition / Emission / Hydrocarbons / James Webb Space Telescope / Local thermodynamic equilibrium / Methane / Molecular absorption / Near infrared radiation / Sublimation / Water absorption / Wind