David Wilner (CfA)

David Wilner Colloquium: New Views of Planet-Forming Disks with Millimeter Interferometry

Marsfield Lecture Theatre

Abstract

The circumstellar disks that naturally arise from the star formation process
are the sites where planets are made. Many hundreds of these analogs to
the disk that spawned our Solar System are nearby and accessible to detailed
investigation. Millimeter interferometers provide direct access to the cool
material in these disks, enabling resolved observations of dust morphology
and properties, as well as the thermal, chemical, and dynamical structure of
gas, all of which impact what kind of planetary systems, if any, may form
(or may be forming now). I will review studies from the Submillimeter Array
on Mauna Kea that illustrate key phenomena, including disk density structures
and the demographic effects of stellar host mass and multiplicity, and
I will touch on some incredible advances that are now beginning with the
revolutionary capabilities of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array.