Astrometric view of companions in the inner dust cavities of protoplanetary disks
By analyzing Gaia astrometry in 98 transition disks, this study finds that while companions are detected in 32% of the sample, most are stellar-mass objects that cannot explain the inner dust cavities, suggesting that if companions are responsible for cavity formation, they are likely planetary-mass bodies residing at wider separations.
Miguel Vioque, Richard A. Booth, Enrico Ragusa, Álvaro Ribas, Nicolás T. Kurtovic, Giovanni P. Rosotti, Zephyr Penoyre, Stefano Facchini, Antonio Garufi, Carlo F. Manara, Nuria Huélamo, Andrew Winter, Sebastián Pérez, Myriam Benisty, Ignacio Mendigutía, Nicolás Cuello, Anna B. T. Penzlin, Alfred Castro-Ginard, Richard TeagueTue, 10 Ma🔭 astro-ph