AST Colloquium - The Elusive Gas Component of Protoplanetary Disks
The Elusive Gas Component of Protoplanetary DisksDr. Uma GortiNASA Ames Research CenterAbstract:Protoplanetary disks are the sites of planet formation and minute amounts of solid dust within them somehow collect to first form planetesimals, which later get assembled into rocky and gaseous planets. All this occurs against a backdrop of a massive gas component whose evolution remains largely unknown. As the main constituent H2 is not very emissive, most of what we know about gas in disks comes from observations of many trace chemical species. Interpreting what we see and understanding how disks evolve, therefore, requires modeling the physical and chemical structure of disks. I will discuss recent work in this context.Speaker Bio:Uma Gorti obtained her Ph.D at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore working on the interstellar medium. She then came to the US as a National Research Council to work with David Hollenbach at the NASA Ames Research Center on the photoevaporation of molecular clouds. She has been at Ames ever since. For the past 15 years, she has been working on various aspects of protoplanetary disk evolution and dispersal.Intended Audience:No background knowledge is required. All are welcome.
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