UConn Physics Colloquium
“Using Debris Disks to Trace the Dynamics of Planetary Systems”
Prof. Meredith Hughes
Wesleyan University
Abstract: Debris disks are signposts of mature planetary systems, and millimeter-size dust is an excellent tracer of the gravitational landscape around planets. I will describe observations using the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) that leverage the presence of debris disks to explore the dynamics of planetary systems. For example, we can use the vertical puffiness (or lack thereof) to hunt for otherwise invisible Uranus and Neptune analogs, and in systems with directly imaged companions we can use the chaotic zone extent as a measurement of the dynamical mass of the companion. We are also using millimeter disk morphology as a test of theories of the origin of wide-separation planets.
Friday, November 1, 2019
3:30 P.M.
Biology Physics Building
Room BPB-131
Cookies will be served prior to the talk, at 3:00 p.m. outside BPB-131
For more information, contact: Anna Huang at anna.huang@uconn.edu