| Molecular Astrophysics of Protoplanetary Disks and Formation of Planets |
| Dmitry Semenov |
| Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Heidelberg |
|
Fascinating discoveries of diverse exoplanetary systems call for a better understanding of planet formation process, which
begins in planetary nurseries — protoplanetary disks. Protoplanetary disks are compact, ~100-1000 AU objects that contain
~0.01 M_Sun mass of gas and dust left after the formation of a central star. The new observational facilities such as Atacama
Large Millimeter Array, NOEMA interferometer, SPHERE/VLT, and forthcoming James Webb Space Telescope yield the sensitivity and
resolving power required to study in detail physics and chemistry in many disks.
It is challenging though to extract a wealth of information from these rich data mainly due to complexity of data analysis and modeling. Thermal dust continuum data provide information on the disk dust masses and temperatures, but are hard to interpret without proper knowledge of the dust size distribution and opacities. Molecular line spectra provide information on gas temperature, densities, kinematics, ionization state, etc. Yet the analysis of these line date requires understanding of the line excitation, which involves coherent modeling of the disk physical structure, chemistry, and line radiative transfer. In my presentation I will show how one could use high-resolution observations and modeling of protoplanetary disks to address some of the fundamental questions related to the planet formation: - Which processes shape the disk structure and regulate their evolution? - How turbulent are the disks? - What are the chemical complexity prior and at the verge of planet formation? - Are there abundant organic compounds that may facilitate the origin of life? |