General Seminar : Dr. Thayne Currie
Abstract: Direct imaging observations of young planetary systems provide a context for the formation and evolution of our solar system. In this talk, I describe our effort to directly image planet-forming disks and protoplanets with the Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics (SCExAO) project on the Subaru telescope. Our work provides a new look at the disk around solar-mass star LkCa 15 and a reevaluation of its previously proposed protoplanets. On the other hand, SCExAO data identify evidence for jovian planet formation at a wide separation around the more massive star AB Aurigae: possible evidence for planet formation by disk instability. Finally, I chart the near-term path forward for studying planet formation with SCExAO. SCExAO’s new wavefront sensor upgrade makes accessible dozens of structured protoplanetary disks around optically-faint, typically low-mass stars. Our program over the next few years will assess the likely birth locations of jovian protoplanets in these disks and inform the mechanisms by which these planets may be forming.
