Current Research in EEPS: Dr. Fred Ciesla, University of Chicago
Title:
The Coupled Dynamical and Chemical Evolution of Pebbles in the Solar Nebula
Abstract:
Over the last decade, pebble accretion has been proposed as a possible pathway for the growth of planets in our Solar System and beyond. In this formation mode, planetary mass is delivered by small, millimeter- to meter-sized aggregates whose dynamics are controlled by their interactions with the gas within the protoplanetary disks in which they reside. As such materials would escape parent body processing within planetesimals, their compositions, and that which they deliver to planets, will be determined by the chemical processing that occurs within the protoplanetary disk. In this talk, I will discuss how pebble formation leads to changing chemical conditions within the protoplanetary disk and how these evolving conditions compare to the chemical record of planet formation in our Solar System and in other planetary systems.
