Protoplanetary disks as a research area encompass the observational, theoretical, and computational study of gas- and dust-rich disks surrounding young stellar objects, which serve as the birthplaces of planets. This field investigates disk structure, composition, thermochemistry, angular momentum transport, and disk evolution through processes such as accretion, turbulence, magnetohydrodynamic effects, dust growth, and planet–disk interactions. Research integrates multiwavelength observations (e.g., ALMA, infrared spectroscopy) with radiative transfer, hydrodynamical, and chemical modeling to constrain disk lifetimes, mass budgets, and conditions for planet formation, as well as to link disk properties to emerging planetary system architectures and demographics.
A fascinating glimpse into how a solar system like our own is born has been revealed with the detection of planet-forming "pebbles" around two young stars.
Astronomy
Jul 7, 2025
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Identifying the formation period of planetary systems, such as our solar system, could be the beginning of the journey to discover the origin of life. The key to this is the unique substructures found in protoplanetary disks—the ...
Astronomy
Jun 24, 2025
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126
An international team of scientists led by astronomers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison has produced the most accurate measurement of the gases swirling around young stars and how their mass changes over time. The ...
Astronomy
Jun 16, 2025
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43
An international team of astronomers including researchers at the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory has unveiled groundbreaking findings about the disks of gas and dust surrounding nearby young stars, using ...
Planetary Sciences
Jun 13, 2025
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The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has uncovered a key piece of the puzzle in how rocky planets, such as Earth, form around young stars. For decades, scientists have struggled to explain how dust grains ...
Planetary Sciences
Jun 12, 2025
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44
An international team of astronomers led by the University of Galway has discovered the likely site of a new planet in formation, most likely a gas giant planet up to a few times the mass of Jupiter.
Astronomy
Jun 9, 2025
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199
Star and planet formation has largely been considered separate, sequential processes. But in a new study, scientists at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) have modeled a different scenario where planets start developing ...
Planetary Sciences
Jun 9, 2025
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114
Astronomers have found a rare form of methanol, a type of alcohol, in a planet-forming disk, providing a critical step in understanding how life beyond Earth may form. This result reveals vital details about the chemical ...
Astrobiology
Jun 5, 2025
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130
A team of international astronomers led by Richard Teague, the Kerr-McGee Career Development Professor in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS), has gathered the most sensitive and detailed observations ...
Planetary Sciences
May 22, 2025
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168
A small international team of astronomers has confirmed that a binary star system with an odd signal has a companion—a planet roughly twice the size of Jupiter, which may have emerged from a circumbinary orbit or from a second-generation ...
