Events in Physics
Wednesday, October 23, 2024
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Olja Panic (Leeds): Deciphering giant planet formationPLTAbstract:
The multitude of detected exoplanets and their diversity never cease to fascinate us, while the statistical trends emerging from these detections present promising opportunities to delve into the past of planetary systems, all the way back to their formation. Concurrently, observational advances enabled by the world's largest ground-based observatory - ALMA, alongside the suite of telescopes of the European Southern Observatory, are breaking new ground in direct observations of young stars caught in the act of planet formation.
In this talk, I will provide an overview of our observational and theoretical understanding of the formation of gas giants. Sometimes falling in the shadow of the search for another Earth, these planets are equally important to study. They dominate the dynamics of planetary system, influence the habitability of other planets in their systems, and importantly: the only known example of life-harbouring planetary system - our own - hosts them. However, giant planet harbouring systems are not a common outcome of planet formation, which makes it fundamental to study them. In my research into giant planet formation, I focus on the evolution of planet forming environments of the intermediate mass stars (IMSs). These are the most frequent hosts of giant planet harbouring planetary systems. I use both observational surveys and planet formation simulation to examine planet formation around IMSs in comparison to stars of other masses. In this way, I identify conditions and processes that are central in determining whether a star will host a giant planet. I will present the latest results of this research in the context of exoplanet missions on the horizon. |