Collaborative Research: Tracing the Evolution of Planetary Systems

碎片盘，许多恒星周围的尘埃盘，是行星形成的地方。到目前为止，我们已经在其他恒星周围的24个碎片盘中观测到了不同亮度的尘埃和颗粒。然而，我们仍然不知道这些颗粒的详细性质。碎片盘是研究行星系统如何形成和随时间变化的例子。调查人员将使用双子座南天文台望远镜的双子座行星成像仪(GPI)积分场光谱仪和旋光仪详细观察许多碎片盘中尘埃的性质，包括颗粒颜色、大小、成分以及颗粒在盘中的厚度。他们将把这些观测与来自其他望远镜的数据结合起来，提供不同碎片盘中尘埃颗粒特性的整体图景。这项研究的结果有助于找出我们的太阳系与其他行星系统的位置。这项计划通过增加我们对早期太阳系和其他行星系统形成的了解，服务于国家利益。调查人员将制作一个节目和视频，向公众解释新的GPI仪器，以及我们可以使用它学习的科学。恒星周围的吸积盘(碎片盘)，即主序恒星周围的尘埃盘，可能是行星形成的地点。到目前为止，已经在散射光中对24个碎片圆盘进行了空间分解，揭示了尘埃的位置和颗粒的反射率。然而，这些颗粒的详细性质还没有被很好地理解。碎片盘是研究行星系统形成和演化的实验室，有助于将我们的太阳系与其他行星系统联系起来。由这些研究人员计划的双子座行星成像仪积分场光谱仪(IFS)和旋光仪观测将提供一个前所未有的机会来辨别颗粒特性。IFS观测将对光谱特征敏感，并将更好地约束散射光的颜色，从而限制颗粒组成和大小。旋光法将使我们能够确定颗粒大小和孔隙率之间的差异。该团队将把GPI观测与哈勃太空望远镜、麦哲伦自适应光学和阿塔卡马大毫米/亚毫米阵列的补充高对比度成像和热成像数据结合起来，开发整体模型，这些模型将显著提高我们对行星系统形成后期阶段可用材料的理解。调查人员将制作一个节目，向公众展示新的GPI仪器，包括一段视频，解释该仪器及其实现的科学。

Debris disks, the disks of dust around many stars, are the places where planets form. We have, so far, observed the dust and grains of different brightness in twenty-four debris disks around other stars. We still, however, do not know the detailed properties of these grains. Debris disks are examples for studies of how planetary systems form and change with time. The investigators will use the Gemini South Observatory telescope's Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) Integral Field Spectrograph and Polarimeter to observe the properties of the dust in many debris disks in detail, including grain colors, sizes, compositions, and how thick the grains are in the disks. They will combine these observations with data from other telescopes to provide an overall picture of the properties of the dust grains in different debris disks. The results of this research help to find our Solar System's place with other planetary systems. This program serves the national interest by increasing our understanding of how the early Solar System and other planetary systems formed. The investigators will make a program and video that explain the new GPI instrument, and the science we can learn using it, for the general public. Circumstellar accretion disks (debris disks), the dusty disks around main sequence stars, are the likely sites of planet formation. To date, twenty-four debris disks have been spatially resolved in scattered light, revealing the location of the dust and the reflectivities of the grains. The detailed properties of these grains are, however, not well understood. Debris disks serve as laboratories for studies of planetary system formation and evolution that help to place our Solar System into context with other planetary systems. Gemini Planet Imager Integral Field Spectrograph (IFS) and Polarimeter observations planned by these investigators will provide an unprecedented opportunity to discern grain properties. IFS observations will be sensitive to spectral features and will better constrain the color of the scattered light, therefore constraining the particle composition and size. Polarimetry will allow us to determine the difference between particle size and porosity. This team will combine the GPI observations with complementary high contrast imaging and thermal mapping data from the Hubble Space Telescope, Magellan Adaptive Optics, and Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array to develop holistic models that will significantly improve our understanding of the materials available during the late stages of planetary system formation. The investigators will create a program that showcases the new GPI instrument, including a video to explain the instrument and the science it enables, for the general public.