Studying the birth of exoplanetary systems with the Planet Formation Imager (PFI)

Description

Despite recent advancements, many fundamental questions still surround the processes that are involved in planetary birth: Where in the protoplanetary disk do the planets form and how do they grow? What factors determine the final architecture of planetary systems? How are water and other volatiles delivered to the protoplanets and how does this affect the potential habitability of these worlds?As part of the "Planet Formation Imager" (PFI) project we develop the roadmap for a future infrared high-angular resolution imaging facility that aims to answer these questions by witnessing the planetary formation processes on the natural scales where the material is assembled, which is the Hill sphere of the forming planets. PFI will detect giant protoplanets on all stellocentric radii, image their interaction with the ambient disk material, and trace their dynamical evolution during the first 100 million years, thereby reveal the processes that determine the architecture of planetary systems.In this contribution we give an overview about the work of the PFI science and technical working group and present radiation-hydrodynamics simulations from which we derive preliminary specifications that guide the design of the facility. We will present a baseline PFI architecture that can achieve these goals, point at remaining technical challenges, and suggest activities today that will help make the Planet Formation Imager facility a reality.

Abstract

International audience

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