In the fall of 2004, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) awarded a VIDI-grant to the research program 'Zooming in on Planet-forming Disks with Emerging Submillimeter-wave Facilities' (PI, M. Hogerheijde) . This program starts in January 2005 and runs until 2010. There are currently job openings for a postdoctoral researcher and a Ph.D. student.
Brief summary in Dutch:
De kraamkamers van planeten. Net als de zon zijn veel sterren omringd door planeten. Sterrenkundigen vermoeden dat planeten ontstaan uit schijven van gas en stof rond pasgeboren sterren. Met de nieuwste generatie microgolf-telescopen gaan de onderzoekers bestuderen wat er gebeurt in deze planetaire kraamkamers.
Abstract:
Rotating disks of gas and dust often surround newly formed stars, and are the likely birthplaces of planets. Planet formation has never been directly observed, and only indirect evidence of the initial stages has been found; no satisfactory theory exists.
Much of our knowledge about disks comes from the thermal radiation of their dust content, accounting for 1% of their mass. The other 99% is molecular gas and more difficult to study. We only have a qualitative understanding of the characteristics and evolution of this gas that is crucial for the formation of giant planets like Jupiter and the planets detected around other stars.
The expansion of existing observational facilities and the construction of new ones operating at submillimeter wavelengths significantly improves our ability to study planet-forming disks. Molecular line observations at these wavelengths uniquely probe the composition and dynamics that can be directly compared to theoretical models.
Unprecedented spatial scales (<100 AU) and sensitivities (down to several Jupiter masses) will become available when the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope is linked with the SubMillimeter Array (2005), with construction of APEX (2004) and its dual-frequency array receiver CHAMP+ (2005), and with the gradual delivery of the 64-antenna Atacama Large Millimeter Array (2008).
This program will maximize the science result of these emerging submillimeter facilities in the study of planet-forming disks, by forming a dedicated group of three graduate students and two postdocs led by proposer at Leiden Observatory. The students will carry out observational studies of focused source samples with the emerging submillimeter facilities to begin answering open questions about planet-forming disks. The postdocs will focus on developing modeling tools and their application to data interpretation. The science results and the acquired expertise will lead to the formulation of an ambitious follow-up program for the completed ALMA.