Observability of giant planets during the final stage of their formation

• Applicants: Professor Dr. H. Hubertus Klahr; Professor Dr. Sebastian Wolf
• Subject Area: Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: from 2011 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 191707420

The goal of this project is to derive observable quantities which allow to constrain the existence and major parameters of giant protoplanets as well as the physical conditions and processes during their formation in young circumstellar disks. Based on our selected preparatory studies which demonstrate the feasibility of this project we will consider a broad range of planetary and stellar masses and circumstellar disk properties as suggested by exoplanet observations and planet population synthesis studies. This is a timely project as during the proposed funding period large ground-based and space observatories and instruments will become available which are expected to provide the spatial resolution, sensitivity, and dynamic range needed to perform these observations. Using our state-of-the-art 3D magneto-hydrodynamical (MHD) and 3D radiative transfer codes we aim at providing the basis necessary for the observational verification of theoretical models of the late stages of giant planet formation.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants