Colloq Abstract - Stone
January 31, 2020
11:00am Mountain
J. Stone (Univ. of Arizona)
Understanding the Planet Formation Process with High Resolution Imaging
Abstract
Understanding the planet formation process is a central goal of the exoplanet community. My work aims to inform theories of planet formation by characterizing the initial conditions (protoplanetary disks) and final outcomes (mature planetary systems) of the process. I am also focused on instrument development that will facilitate direct probes of the planet formation process at the wavelengths where young protoplanets and their warm circumplanetary material shine brightest. I will discuss two of my on-going instrument development projects aimed at improving our ability to study planetary systems in greater detail with the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer. First, ALES, the world's only thermal-infrared integral-field spectrograph, is designed to boost sensitivity to planets in the high-contrast regime and simultaneously provide spectroscopic probes of their atmospheres. Second, the Fizeau Fringe Tracking Camera, FFTCam, will enable the LBT to function as a 23 m telescope with the resolution and sensitivity to observe protoplanets ~3-5 au from young stars in nearby star-forming regions.
