The radio emission mechanisms from accreting protoplanets and their variability link observations and physical properties. We revisit the variability of the ∼343, GHz (ALMA Band 7) flux density from PDS, 70c (F_ B7). The subtraction of the extended time-averaged signal may enable the measurement of the flux density from variable and embedded point sources. Visibility alignment and self-calibration yield close to thermal residuals in each execution block (EB) of ALMA observations, thus allowing the time-differential photometry of point-sources in the visibility domain. The variability of PDS, 70c was checked against synthetic control point sources. In images of the 2017 ALMA dataset, with three ∼1, h EBs, PDS, 70c was detected only on 6 December 2017, where F_ B7 rose by 228% (3. 3σ). Time-differential photometry confirms a rise by 170% (t) shows some scatter when splitting the deep 2023 EBs into 20, min intervals, with a ̧hi² test significant at 2. 6, σ, and an intrinsic dispersion of 49% (3. 7σ). An application to ∼2, h EBs from the 2023 dataset resulted in constant flux densities, within a scatter of ∼15%. However, F_ ̊m B7 The radio variability of PDS, 70c, observed over hours but averaged out on longer timescales, is indeed expected if the signal is due to i free-free from an accretion shock on a circumplanetary disk surface. A planet-to-environment mass ratio <10^-4 is required to avoid smoothing by radiative diffusion if the signal is due to thermal emission from the environment.
Casassus et al. (2026) studied this question.