Related papers: Protoplanetary Disks and Their Evolution
The processes leading to the birth of low-mass stars such as our Sun have been well studied, but the formation of high-mass (> 8 x Sun's mass) stars has heretofore remained poorly understood. Recent observational studies suggest that…
Dusty protoplanetary disks surrounding young low-mass stars are the birthplaces of planets. Studies of the evolutionary timescales of such disks provide important constraints on the timescales of planet formation. Binary companions,…
The envelopes and disks that surround protostars reflect the initial conditions of star and planet formation and govern the assembly of stellar masses. Characterizing these structures requires observations that span the near-infrared to…
The lifetime of protoplanetary disks is a crucial parameter for planet formation research. Observations of disk fractions in star clusters imply median disk lifetimes of 1 -- 3 Myr. This very short disk lifetime calls for planet formation…
The evolution of gravitationally unstable protoplanetary gaseous disks has been studied with the use of three-dimensional smoothed particle hydrodynamics simulations with unprecedented resolution. We have considered disks with initial…
The growth of dust grains in protoplanetary disks is a necessary first step towards planet formation. This growth has been inferred via observations of thermal dust emission towards mature protoplanetary systems (age >2 million years) with…
Substructures such as rings, gaps, and cavities are commonly observed in protoplanetary discs and are thought to play a key role in dust evolution and planet formation. However, a fraction of the extended discs (68% dust radii > 30 AU) in…
Gaps in protoplanetary disks have long been hailed as signposts of planet formation. However, a direct link between exoplanets and disks remains hard to identify. We present a large sample study of ALMA disk surveys of nearby star-forming…
The formation of planets strongly depends on the total amount as well as on the spatial distribution of solids in protoplanetary disks. Thanks to the improvements in resolution and sensitivity provided by ALMA, measurements of the surface…
Based on a large number of observations carried out in the last decade it appears that the fraction of stars with protoplanetary disks declines steadily between ~1 Myr and ~10 Myr. We do, however, know that the multiplicity fraction of…
The formation of planetary cores must proceed rapidly in order for the giant planets to accrete their gaseous envelopes before the dissipation of the protoplanetary gas disc (<3 Myr). In orbits beyond 10 AU, direct accumulation of…
Understanding the evolution and dissipation of protoplanetary disks are crucial in star and planet formation studies. We report the protoplanetary disk population in the nearby young $\sigma$ Orionis cluster (d$\sim$408 pc; age$\sim$1.8…
Recent surveys have revealed that protoplanetary discs typically have dust masses that appear to be insufficient to account for the high occurrence rate of exoplanet systems. We demonstrate that this observed dust depletion is consistent…
We have carried out a sensitive search for gas emission lines at infrared and millimeter wavelengths for a sample of 15 young sun-like stars selected from our dust disk survey with the Spitzer Space Telescope. We have used mid-infrared…
Observations indicate that the gaseous circumstellar disks around young stars vary significantly in size, ranging from tens to thousands of AU. Models of planet formation depend critically upon the properties of these primordial disks, yet…
We describe calculations for the formation of icy planets and debris disks at 30-150 AU around 1-3 solar mass stars. Debris disk formation coincides with the formation of planetary systems. As protoplanets grow, they stir leftover…
Protoplanetary disks are found around young stars, and represent the embryonic stage of planetary systems. At different phases of their evolution, disks may undergo substantial mass-loss by photoevaporation: energetic photons from the…
Protoplanetary discs are crucial to understanding how planets form and evolve, but these objects are subject to the vagaries of the birth environments of their host stars. In particular, photoionising radiation from massive stars has been…
The protoplanetary disks of Herbig Ae stars eventually dissipate leaving a tenuous debris disk comprised of planetesimals and dust, as well as possibly gas and planets. This paper uses the properties of 10-20Myr A star debris disks to…
The onset of planet formation in protoplanetary disks is marked by the growth and crystallization of sub-micron-sized dust grains accompanied by dust settling toward the disk mid-plane. Here we present infrared spectra of disks around brown…