4 May 2006

Speaker: David Wilner (CfA)

Title: Protoplanetary Disks: Analogs of the Early Solar System

Abstract: The nearly circular, coplanar orbits of the planets in our Solar System have led astronomers for centuries to consider an origin within a rotating disk. Advances in observational resolution and sensitivity, especially at millimeter wavelengths, now provide direct evidence for disks of gas and dust surrounding nearby pre-main-sequence stars, many of which have physical properties appropriate to the formation of Solar Systems like our own. I will review briefly how we know what we know about these "protoplanetary" disks, and I will discuss how new observations are starting to capture key aspects of the planet formation process, including (1) dust evolution towards "pebbles", and (2) inner disk holes opened by disk-protoplanet interactions.

Video of the Presentation: the video of this talk is not available.