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At least 1 in 10 nearby Sun-like stars hosts a giant planet. A massive
effort is underway to find more exoplanets, determine their key
properties, and associate demographic trends with models of their
formation. Ultimately, the goal is to develop a robust theoretical
framework grounded in this growing suite of empirical evidence that
explains how different kinds of planets are made. That formation process
is intimately tied to the initial conditions in the reservoirs of
planet-building material - the disks around young stars. Our work focuses
on interpreting high angular resolution observations of the gas and dust
in disks at radio wavelengths, to learn about the physical (densities,
temperatures), material (grain sizes, turbulence), and chemical properties
of these planetary nurseries.
People
Sean Andrews, Catherine Espaillat, Jan Forbrich, Meredith Hughes, Charles
Lada, Karin Oberg, Chunhua (Charlie) Qi, Tom Robitaille, David Wilner
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