Related papers: Stellar-Mass-Dependent Disk Structure in Coeval Pl…
We have analyzed nearly all images of the Taurus star-forming region at 3.6-24um that were obtained during the cryogenic mission of the Spitzer Space Telescope (46 deg^2) and have measured photometry for all known members of the region that…
Exoplanet demographic surveys have revealed that close-in (${\lesssim}$1 au) small planets orbiting stars in the Milky Way's thick disk are ${\sim}50\%$ less abundant than those orbiting stars in the Galactic thin disk. One key difference…
Kepler planets (including super-Earths and sub-Neptunes, from 1 to 4 Earth radii) are likely formed before the gaseous proto-planetary disks have dissipated, as are the Jovian planets. If the metal content in these disks resembles that in…
We carry out global three-dimensional radiation hydrodynamical simulations of self-gravitating accretion discs to determine if, and under what conditions, a disc may fragment to form giant planets. We explore the parameter space (in terms…
Breaks in the surface brightness profiles in the outer regions of galactic discs are thought to have formed by various internal and external processes, and by studying the breaks we aim to better understand what processes are responsible…
Investigations of stellar encounters in cluster environments have demonstrated their potential influence on the mass and angular momentum of protoplanetary discs around young stars. In this study it is investigated in how far the initial…
Transitional disks are objects whose inner disk regions have undergone substantial clearing. The Spitzer Space Telescope produced detailed spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of transitional disks that allowed us to infer their radial dust…
We develop a semi-analytical model for computing planetary system formation with the aim of explaining the observed diversity of planetary systems architectures and relate this primordial diversity with the initial properties of the disc…
Exoplanet observations show that close-in super-Earths are more common around M-dwarfs than around solar mass stars. Since the snow line in a protoplanetary disc plays a crucial role in determining the amount of solid material available for…
We constrain the mass distribution in nearby, star-forming galaxies with the Star Formation Reference Survey (SFRS), a galaxy sample constructed to be representative of all known combinations of star formation rate (SFR), dust temperature,…
We have completed a systematic survey for disks around young brown dwarfs and very low mass stars. By choosing a well-defined sample and by obtaining sensitive thermal IR observations, we can make an unbiased measurement of the disk…
Background: low-mass stars are the dominant product of the star formation process, and they trace star formation over the full range of environments, from isolated globules to clusters in the central molecular zone. In the past two decades,…
To understand the formation of planetary systems, one needs to understand the initial conditions of planet formation, i.e. the young gas-rich planet forming disks. Spatially resolved high-contrast observations are of particular interest,…
Planet-forming disks around brown dwarfs and very low-mass stars (VLMS) are on average less massive and are expected to undergo faster radial solid transport than their higher mass counterparts. Spitzer had detected C$_2$H$_2$, CO$_2$ and…
We investigate the dust structure of gravitationally unstable disks undergoing mass accretion from the envelope envisioning the application to Class 0/I young stellar objects (YSOs) We find that the dust disk quickly settles into a steady…
Around 16% of the solar-like stars in our neighbourhood show IR-excesses due to debris discs and a fraction of them are known to host planets. We aim to determine in a homogeneous way the metallicity of a sample of stars with known debris…
The combination of mid-infrared and recent submm/mm measurements allows us to set up the first comprehensive spectral energy distribution (SED) of the circumstellar material around a young Brown Dwarf. Simple arguments suggest that the dust…
Protoplanetary discs are dynamic environments where the interplay between chemical processes and mass transport shapes the composition of gas and dust available for planet formation. We investigate the combined effects of volatile chemistry…
The physical and chemical conditions in young protoplanetary disks set the boundary conditions for planet formation. Although the dust in disks is relatively easily detected as a far-IR photometric ``excess'' over the expected photospheric…
Debris belts on the periphery of planetary systems, encompassing the region occupied by planetary orbits, are massive analogues of the Solar system's Kuiper belt. They are detected by thermal emission of dust released in collisions amongst…