Studying Planet Formation by Mapping Small-scale Structures in Circumstellar Disks

William Marsh Rice University, Houston TX

Investigators

Abstract

Planets formed from material in disks that once surrounded the stars they orbit. Part of this process includes this material clumping into larger grains or pieces. With the new Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescopes, it is now possible to see material well into the zones in many of these disks where planets are forming. In this project, the investigators will look first for clumps of dust of different sizes and structures in disks around other stars. They will then study how the different structures affect the distribution of dust pieces having different sizes. Finally, they will measure how the dust pieces are spread in the disk with respect to gases of different molecules. The goal of this project is to learn whether the different observed structures trap solid dust pieces. This project serves the national interest by advancing our understanding of the science behind the formation of planetary systems. A postdoctoral scholar and a graduate student will conduct the research. All of the raw and processed data will be available to the scientific community. This project will study the formation of planets by mapping small-scale structures in nearby circumstellar disks around pre-main sequence stars, using ALMA and VLA radio observations that will resolve material well into the planet-forming zones of a large sample of disks. The research has three main goals. First, quantify the prevalence and morphology of small-scale structures in the distribution of dust particles. This will be achieved by mapping the 1.3 mm dust continuum emission in 20 nearby disks at an angular resolution of about 0.04". Second, study how these structures affect the distribution of dust grains with different sizes. To do this, multi-wavelength observations between 0.87 mm and 1 cm, which probe the distribution of mm- and cm-sized dust grains, will be acquired. Third, measure the distribution of dust particles relative to the molecular gas. This goal will be achieved by mapping the molecular line emission (e.g., CO) from disks characterized by substructures at an angular resolution comparable to that of the continuum maps. The goal is to understand if the observed structures trap solid dust particles, therefore solving the long-standing radial migration problem. A postdoctoral scholar and a graduate student will conduct the data analysis and publication of the results. Additionally, the scientific community will receive access to the full suite of data products derived from this program.