This image of young star HL Tauri is one of the best ever taken to show the process of planetary formation.

This image from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array in Chile is the best ever taken of a planetary system in formation.

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$15 per guest
Member and senior price: $12. Discount applied after login.

Seating is limited and advance reservations required. To order by phone, call (877) 227-1831.

Baby Planets and Their Nurseries
Monday, January 13, 7:30 pm
Morrison Planetarium

Featuring Catherine Espaillat, Boston University

We know that planets are born in the protoplanetary disks that surround stars when they are young. How these disks evolve into planetary systems is a fundamental question in astronomy. Observations have revealed remarkable structures in disks that may indicate the presence of newly born planets. This talk will review these key observations and compare them to current theoretical predictions of planet formation. To conclude,  possibilities for future progress in the field will be discussed.

About Catherine Espaillat

Catherine Espaillat studies how planets form around young stars

Dr. Espaillat received her B.A. from Columbia University in 2003 and earned a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of Michigan in 2009. She went on to the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics as an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow and a NASA Carl Sagan Fellow, then joined the Department of Astronomy at Boston University as an Assistant Professor in 2013.She is a recipient of the National Science Foundation’s CAREER award and the Sloan Research Fellowship.

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