IAS Seminar "Star and Planet Formation – A Grand Challenge in Observational Data Science and Numerical Modelling"

Speaker:

Prof. Dr. Susanne Pfalzner, Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie, Bonn

Abstract:

Planets form from the gas-dust discs surrounding young stars. Most stars do not form in isolation but as part of a star cluster, - even our own solar system most likely formed as part of a cluster. So the question arises how much such cluster environments influence star and planet formation. This requires knowledge about the typical cluster environment and the complex interaction dynamics governing it. In this talk a short introduction to modern observation techniques will be given, showing how advanced data science has emerged as the key to tracking billions of stars to extract relevant information via machine learning algorithms.

It has recently been shown that from these observations it follows that only two distinct types of star clusters exist – short-lived associations and dense, long-lived open clusters. Guided by this observational result, HPC simulations allow the cluster dynamics to be modelled in order to determine its influence on star and planet formation. The degree of influence each type of environment is quantified, predicting that planetary systems in long-lived open clusters should be on average smaller than our solar system. It will be shown how our own solar system still bears the marks of its birth environment to the present day. It turns out that the fly-by of another cluster member might have shaped the outer solar system, which was possibly vital for the emergence of life on Earth.

Anyone interested is cordially invited to participate in this seminar.