Unlocking the organic chemistry of planet formation
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leeds
Department Name: Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
Planetary systems, such as our own, are assembled from dust, gas, and ice contained in protoplanetary discs around young stars. Studying these discs gives us unique insights into the raw material that goes on to form planets, and can answer fundamental questions about our place in the Universe. Is our Solar System rare? What types of planets are commonly formed? Where and how do planets inherit their composition?
While much progress has recently been made on studying protoplanetary discs with observatories such as the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), this is only able to tell us about the outer regions of protoplanetary discs where giant planets like Jupiter or Saturn might form. We know very little about the composition of i) the inner protoplanetary disc, where Earth-like (or terrestrial) planets are expected to form, and ii) the disc midplane, where the planet formation process starts.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will soon provide a unique window on protoplanetary discs. JWST will open up the innermost regions of discs, and SKA will peer into their most dense regions in the midplane. In this Fellowship, I will use a combination cutting-edge observations from these facilities, along with predictions from computer models, to understand the composition of protoplanetary discs across their full extent for the first time. My results will shed new light on the chemical composition of the raw material available for planet formation, and determine how similar this material is to our own Solar System.
While much progress has recently been made on studying protoplanetary discs with observatories such as the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), this is only able to tell us about the outer regions of protoplanetary discs where giant planets like Jupiter or Saturn might form. We know very little about the composition of i) the inner protoplanetary disc, where Earth-like (or terrestrial) planets are expected to form, and ii) the disc midplane, where the planet formation process starts.
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will soon provide a unique window on protoplanetary discs. JWST will open up the innermost regions of discs, and SKA will peer into their most dense regions in the midplane. In this Fellowship, I will use a combination cutting-edge observations from these facilities, along with predictions from computer models, to understand the composition of protoplanetary discs across their full extent for the first time. My results will shed new light on the chemical composition of the raw material available for planet formation, and determine how similar this material is to our own Solar System.
Publications
Bae J
(2022)
Erratum: "Molecules with ALMA at Planet-forming Scales (MAPS): A Circumplanetary Disk Candidate in Molecular-line Emission in the AS 209 Disk" (2022, ApJL, 934, L20)
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Bae J
(2022)
Molecules with ALMA at Planet-forming Scales (MAPS): A Circumplanetary Disk Candidate in Molecular-line Emission in the AS 209 Disk
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Benisty Myriam
(2023)
Direct detection of kinematically-detected protoplanet candidates
in JWST Proposal. Cycle 2
Bergin E
(2024)
C/O Ratios and the Formation of Wide-separation Exoplanets
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Booth A
(2024)
An ALMA Molecular Inventory of Warm Herbig Ae Disks. I. Molecular Rings, Asymmetries, and Complexity in the HD 100546 Disk
in The Astronomical Journal
Booth A
(2024)
An ALMA Molecular Inventory of Warm Herbig Ae Disks. II. Abundant Complex Organics and Volatile Sulphur in the IRS 48 Disk
in The Astronomical Journal
Booth A
(2023)
Sulphur monoxide emission tracing an embedded planet in the HD 100546 protoplanetary disk
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
| Description | Leeds-Africa Hub for Data Science & Artificial Intelligence |
| Organisation | University of Leeds |
| Department | School of Mathematics Leeds |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The aim of the Leeds Africa Hub is to promote and enable collaboration between the University of Leeds and researchers across the African continent working in any areas that utilise data science, machine learning or artificial intelligence. A continued drive to advance skills and education in data science across Africa has many benefits, but will be particularly relevant in helping to reduce global inequality and spur economic growth. |
| Collaborator Contribution | We first approached several organisations either based in, or with links to, Africa to assemble an initial list of potential delegates to target with invitations to speak at the conference. In parallel to this, we opened registration for expressions of interest and circulated advertisements as widely as possible using contacts within these networks. At close of registration, we had received over 300 expressions of interest to attend from researchers and/or students across 30 different African countries (Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Eswatini, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe). The conference consisted of plenary talks on subjects ranging from astronomy, biology, ecology, waste management, climate, oceanography, healthcare, natural language processing, image based machine learning and the ethics of artificial intelligence. The final two days were devoted to participant-led sessions ranging from tutorials on specific techniques, short talks, or discussion sessions on a variety of topics. During the conference, we arranged ad hoc discussions with several stakeholders and contacts that would help to achieve the Hub's aims of supporting and further connectings with the data science community across Africa. Bruno Ssekiwere attended representing Deep Learning Indaba (DLI), an annual meeting of the African machine learning and AI community with the mission to strengthen African AI. Vukosi Marivate is ABSA chair of Data Science at U. Pretoria and heavily involved in organisations such as DLI and other efforts/start-ups associated with the development and application of machine learning across Africa. Tiamo Motshegwa is incoming director of the African Open Science Platform (AOSP), an initiative funded by the National Research Foundation South Africa to position African scientists at the forefront of data intensive science through interactivity, capacity sharing and efficiency of scale. |
| Impact | The project is on-going, but further training events in Rwanda are planned for summer 2025. |
| Start Year | 2023 |
| Description | exoALMA |
| Organisation | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Department | MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | By leveraging the unparalleled spatial and spectral resolution of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the exoALMA program is searching for still-forming planets embedded in their parental protoplanetary disks through their influence on the dynamics of the surround gas. To this end, exoALMA will focus on 15 sources, taking some of the deepest and most sensitive images of these planet forming nurseries to transform our understanding of how planetary systems can form. The figure below shows the current state of exoplanet demographics, and highlights the region in which exoALMA will be most transformative. |
| Collaborator Contribution | We have a team of experts whose expertise span all observational and theoretical aspects of planet formation, planet-disk interactions and protoplanetary disks |
| Impact | Outcomes will be delivered once the program is completed. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | exoALMA |
| Organisation | National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | By leveraging the unparalleled spatial and spectral resolution of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the exoALMA program is searching for still-forming planets embedded in their parental protoplanetary disks through their influence on the dynamics of the surround gas. To this end, exoALMA will focus on 15 sources, taking some of the deepest and most sensitive images of these planet forming nurseries to transform our understanding of how planetary systems can form. The figure below shows the current state of exoplanet demographics, and highlights the region in which exoALMA will be most transformative. |
| Collaborator Contribution | We have a team of experts whose expertise span all observational and theoretical aspects of planet formation, planet-disk interactions and protoplanetary disks |
| Impact | Outcomes will be delivered once the program is completed. |
| Start Year | 2022 |