Cosmos Seminar

When a new planetary system forms around a young star, we usually think of the process as a gradual (thousands to millions of years) buildup of material from tiny dust grains to planetessimals. But is the process of star and planet formation a slow and steady one, or are there bumps in the road to planet construction? Does this leave a measurable signature that we could find if it happened here in our own Solar System 4.6 billion year ago? In 1936, the young star FU Orionis (FU Ori) became 100 times brighter in only a few short months. FU Ori was undergoing a "burst" of accretion from its own planet-forming disk cascading onto the star itself -- and nearly 20 Jupiter masses of gas have accreted in during the past 80 years. What changes did this increased brightness wreak upon FU Ori's disk, and what implications would it have for any planets that might have formed or form later? We present the first multi-epoch infrared spectroscopic study of an FUor, using NASA’s Spitzer and SOFIA telescopes, as it appeared in 2004 and 2016, and see what changes the fading heat has left on disk chemistry. Next up: the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), NASA’s next great observatory launching in October 2018, will be a perfect tool to follow the evolution of disks like FU Ori. A hundred times more sensitive than Spitzer, with 50 times the spatial resolution, JWST will revolutionize our understanding of planet formation. How will we maintain the prestige and cultural impact of Hubble as the torch passes to Webb? And can they work together even more directly, in 3D?.

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