Speaker
Description
Planet formation is one of the most fundamental process in modern astrophysics as it is tightly linked to the origin of life. With more than 3000 planets known so far we are learning that planetary systems are ubiquitous in the Galaxy and their architectures are highly heterogeneous. These findings challenge our understanding of the planet formation mechanism. Protoplanetary disks offer a unique laboratory to investigate the early phases of planet formation and evolution.
A major contribution to this field is coming from the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA). For the first time indeed, we are now able to detect and spatially resolve the emission coming from the cold disk interior
where planet formation takes place. I will present recent results based on ALMA observations of gas and dust in disks.
