Dynamical instabilities in the aid of planet formation in circumstellar disks

New Mexico State University, Las Cruces NM

Investigators

Abstract

A three-year program conducted by New Mexico State University will simulate planets forming around young host stars using supercomputers. Many details in the roadmap of planet formation are still uncharted. Planets form out of disks of gas and dust that orbit young stars. This investigation will use powerful computers to produce simulations of planet formation and compare the results with modern observations. This research will be able to decide which models are more likely to account for planet formation. This project has an educational component focused on underserved Hispanic teenagers, with a goal is to inspire them to pursue higher education. The project will develop a science camp where students are taught reasoning skills and learn about astronomy. The project plans to reach 30% of all Hispanic teenagers living under the poverty line in Las Cruces. To consolidate gains, a three-month after-school program of lectures will be offered, by the end of which some students are paired with local astronomers for summer internships. The proposed work will potentially address the long-standing question of the robustness of planet formation, specifically in the crucial range of solar and sub-solar metallicity, by examining potential synergies between hydrodynamical and streaming instabilities. The work will strive to produce testable predictions in the form of (1) observational signatures of the planet-forming streaming instability in sub-mm wavelengths; (2) the observational appearance of dynamical instabilities in thermal emission and scattered light and (3) how vortices appear in scattered light, which is valuable to current surveys with SPHERE, GPI, and SCExAO, but also for future observations with JWST. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.