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protoplanets

establishing a global observational view of planet formation

TW Hydrae/ALMA/S. Andrews/B. Saxton

AB Aurigae/ESO/Boccaletti et al


PROTOPLANETS

‍

THIS ERC-FUNDED CONSOLIDATOR GRANT PROJECT aims to understand the diversity
of exoplanetary systems by establishing a global observational picture of the
early
stages of the formation and evolution of planetary systems.

Together with my team, we will: (1) search for giant protoplanets embedded in
their birthplace, the protoplanetary disk; (2) study the imprints of planet-disk
interactions;
(3) characterize the disk physical structure and the initial steps for planet
formation.

To achieve these goals, we will use a panchromatic approach with cutting-edge
observations on a large number of protoplanetary disks, calibrated with novel
data processing technics and analyzed in the light of state-of-the-art models.

To ensure a global observational view of planet formation, we will focus on the
detections of planets and, at the same time, on the characterization of their
birth environment by combining several tracers of the inner disk regions, where
rocky
planets are found, and of the outer disk regions, where gaseous giant
protoplanets
are detected.

‍

MYRIAM BENISTY

Principal Investigator



SU Aur/ESO/Ginski et al

FRAMEWORK

In our quest to understand the origins of life, a central question is whether
our planet is unique, and what the conditions would be for other planets to host
life. While our solar system with its inner rocky planets and outer giant
planets has enabled deep understanding of planet interiors, major improvement in
instrumentation has recently allowed over 5500 exoplanets to be detected, down
to Earth-masses.

Extensive observing surveys have also confirmed that planetary systems show
an incredible diversity, in the nature of individual planets and in the
architecture of planetary systems. The origin of this wide diversity and whether
it is inherited from
the earliest stages of planet formation are still unsolved issues. Key-questions
such
as when, where and how planets form remain unsolved. Detecting and
characterizing nascent planets and their impact on their birth environment is
necessary for under-
standing the architectures of exoplanetary systems. This is the goal we are
chasing.


PROTOPLANETARY DISKS

They are a natural product of star formation and play a crucial role as they
have
the reservoir from which matter is accreted onto the star and planets are built.
As they set the initial conditions for planet formation, the observed diversity
of exoplanets might well be related to the diversity of disk physical
properties. While planets form and interact with the disk, the latter evolves
through other mechanisms: disk evolution and planet formation therefore happen
simultaneously and influence each other. These processes, and in particular
planet-disk interactions, imprint clear signatures on the disk which can be
studied observationally with high angular resolution observations.

PLANET FORMATION

The recent discovery of the first protoplanetary system with direct imaging
(PDS70) brought a so-far unique case to understand how planets form, accrete and
evolve dynamically. It is now critical for our understanding of planet formation
to search for other protoplanets, to study their imprints on disks, and to
characterize the global disk structure while planet formation is on-going.

Our ERC-funded Protoplanets project will rely on a panchromatic approach
with high-resolution observations in the near and mid-infrared and at millimeter
wavelengths, which will enable us to probe different physical regions of the
disk,
and on the support from state-of-the-art hydrodynamical and dust evolution
models.
By studying both inner and outer disks, as well as the disk midplane and surface
tracers, we will obtain a global, comprehensive, observational picture of the
early stages
of planet formation and evolution in protoplanetary disks.





‍

‍

‍

www.protoplanets-eu.org
2022–2027



NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle (SSC)

ALMA/ESO/B. Tafreshi,



MYRIAM BENISTY

‍

Principal Investigator, I am a staff astronomer at the Institute of Planetology
and Astrophysics of Grenoble (IPAG) and teach at the University of Grenoble
Alpes
and at the Côte d'Azur Observatory (OCA).




Between 2017 and 2021, I was based at the UMI CNRS Institute at the Department
of Astronomy at the University of Chile in Santiago. My research focuses on
understanding the processes that lead to the formation of planets, and more
specifically, on studying the birthplace and conditions for planet formation in
their host environments, the protoplanetary disks. I observe disks at all
wavelengths, probing the inner and outer disk regions, and most recently have
focused my efforts on the search for embedded still-forming planets. I use the
wonderful ESO instruments to observe and analyze disks. The innermost regions
are probed with optical interferometry (VLTI), the outer disk regions with
scattered light imaging (VLT/SPHERE) and in thermal emission with ALMA.




Currently, I am co-leading the exoALMA Large Program in which we are searching
for still-forming planets embedded in their parental protoplanetary disks
through their influence on the dynamics of the surrounding gas. I am also PI of
a James Webb Space Telescope Program that aims to directly image those
protoplanets with the MIRI instrument.


Personal website.


ERC Consolidator Grant Agreement No 101002188



Teague/NRAO/AUI/NSF/S. Dagnello






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