Project D
A turbulent youth: Investigating the conditions of planetary birthplaces
Jochen Stadler (ESO), Anna Miotello (ESO)
During their formation, baby stars are surrounded by a circumstellar disk composed of molecular gas and dust. From the material within these protoplanetary disks, planets eventually form. Observations made with the ALMA Observatory reveal that the millimeter dust emission of these disks exhibits a variety of substructures, most commonly observed are gaps and rings. These structures are believed to arise from variations in the gas pressure within the disk. Dust rings are prime places for the formation of planetary cores.
In this project, we will analyze the unprecedented data from the exoALMA Large Program to investigate the width of the rings seen in dust emission in relation to the widths of the underlying gas pressure, as traced via the CO molecular line emission. By comparing these measurements, we aim to assess the level of turbulent motion within these rings. This analysis will offer insights into the physical mechanisms that form these dust rings and their potential to form protoplanets.
During the summer research program, the student will gain valuable insights into the field of planet formation and will learn how to analyze high-angular-resolution ALMA data.
Requirements include experience with Python programming and familiarity with scientific libraries such as NumPy and Matplotlib.
