Visualizing the Molecular Structure of Protoplanetary Disks

Protoplanetary disks, the birthplace of planets, exhibit fascinating and diverse molecular structures. However, visualizing these structures remains difficult due to the conventional plotting of singular, isolated molecules. In this thesis, I present a Python-based visualization script that is designed to interpolate and overlay molecular data from ALMA observations, specifically with applications to the files from ALMA's DECO program. This script interpolates both the spatial and spectral grids of given FITS files, and allows the user to customize how they would like to plot the interpolated files atop one another. Demonstration of this script is through the application to HP Tau, a young protostar with an interesting disk structure in Taurus. The script reveals interesting molecular streams in carbon-13 based carbon monoxide (13CO), large structures in abundant carbon-12 based carbon monoxide (12CO), and distinct structures with hydrogen cyanide (HCN) and carbon monosulfide (CS). These structures are consistent with light scattering as seen in SPHERE images. The Python script used is publicly available via a public GitHub repository. This work lies the foundation for future customization and enhancement, including more complex molecular overlays and structure visualization of multiple and more complex disks.