Probing the Origins of Solar Systems with Millimeter-wave Interferometry

该奖项将支持一个观测项目，以获得附近富含气体的原行星盘的空间分辨率图像。 这些盘被发现围绕着年龄在100万到300万年之间的恒星，并且非常感兴趣，因为它们代表了行星形成的最早阶段。 该项目有三个目标：探测是否有证据表明存在质量为1000亿的行星，这应该会在行星盘中产生空隙和不对称;研究行星形成的第一阶段的尘埃凝结和碎裂过程;测量内盘中平面的星周气体的密度和运动，并探索对行星形成模型的影响。 直接探测星周盘中的行星将为行星形成的机制和时间尺度提供关键信息。 这是一个非常活跃的研究领域，预计了解行星形成的过程将揭示导致地球和太阳系形成的条件。

This award will support an observational project to obtain spatially-resolved images of nearby, gas-rich protoplanetary disks. These disks are found around stars that have an age of 1-3 million years, and are of great interest because they represent the earliest stages of the formation of planets. The project has three goals: to detect evidence of the presence of Jupiter-mass planets, which should produce gaps and asymmetries in disks; to investigate dust coagulation and fragmentation processes during the first stages of planet formation; and to measure the density and motions of the circumstellar gas in the inner disk mid-plane and explore the implications for planetary formation models. Direct detection of planets in circumstellar disks would provide key information for the mechanisms and time scale for planet formation. This is a very active area of research, and it is anticipated that understanding the process of planet formation will reveal the conditions that led to the formation of the Earth and the solar system.