Characterizing The Extended Molecular Hydrogen Winds In Protoplanetary Disks From The JWST Disk Infrared Spectroscopic Chemistry Survey

We present a comprehensive analysis of extended H₂ emission from 34 protoplanetary disks observed with the JWST Disk Infrared Spectroscopic Chemistry Survey (JDISCS), supplemented by archival data.

We investigated the morphology, kinematics, excitation conditions, and mass dynamics of H2. Extended emission from pure rotational H₂ lines is found to be common, with 16 sources exhibiting clear signatures of disk winds. These include monopolar and bipolar structures in inclined disks and ring-like or bubble-like morphologies in face-on systems features indicative of wide-angle disk winds.

Our analysis shows that the H₂ is consistent with slow (4.2+6.7 −3.0 km s⁻¹ ) MHD driven winds. For ten disks, we model the wind morphology and find a median half-opening angle of 45^◦+5₋₄ and a characteristic power-law index of α ∼ 1.6. Excitation analysis yields a median gas temperature of 624 ± 130 K and a column density of log(N_tot[cm⁻² ]) = 18.6 ± 0.6.

The median wind mass-loss rate, log₁₀(M˙ ^tot_wind) = −9 +0.8 −0.4 M_⊙ yr⁻¹ , implies that, if molecular winds are the dominant mechanism responsible for disk dispersal, a typical disk with a mass of 2 − 3 M_Jup would dissipate on a ∼2-3 Myr timescale, consistent with observed disk lifetimes.

The M˙ tot wind span a relatively narrow range (∼2 dex) and do not correlate strongly with accretion rates onto the star, suggesting that the mass loss rate and the accretion rates are probing different timescales. Our findings demonstrate that spatially extended warm H₂ emission is a widespread and reliable tracer of molecular disk winds in protoplanetary systems.

Mayank Narang, Klaus M. Pontoppidan, Colette Salyk, Nicole Arulanantham, Geoffrey A. Blake, Andrea Banzatti, Joan Najita, Ilaria Pascucci, Jane Huang, Sebastiaan Krijt, Karin Oberg, Giovanni Rosotti, Till Kaeufer, Emma Dahl, L. Ilsedore Cleeves, Ke Zhang, Joel Green

Comments: Accepted at ApJ. 52 pages, 7 main Figure, 2 Figure sets and 5 Tables
Subjects: Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
Cite as: arXiv:2605.07016 [astro-ph.SR] (or arXiv:2605.07016v1 [astro-ph.SR] for this version)
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2605.07016
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Submission history
From: Mayank Narang
[v1] Thu, 7 May 2026 22:59:45 UTC (115,373 KB)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.07016
Astrobiology, astrochemistry,