Origin and evolution of planetary systems
Our group at DIFA conducts research in the formation of stars and planets, the emergence of planetary system architectures, and the development of conditions conducive to the emergence of life.
Our main research areas include:
1. The initial conditions of planetary formation by studying the chemical and physical processes underlying the formation and evolution of protoplanetary disks: we combine the study of the detailed properties and physical processes in disks with the evolutionary properties of populations under different physical conditions. Determining the physical conditions of disks and their evolution over time are crucial for the formation of planetary systems and the physical properties of planets.
2. The atmospheric properties of young planets and the study of planet-disk interactions. The group primarily uses adaptive optics techniques coupled with imaging and spectroscopy instrumentation to detect planets in formation and study their chemical composition.
3. The conditions for the development of life, through the analysis of the chemical composition during the formation of planetary systems and in various parts of the Galaxy. Molecular spectroscopy techniques are applied both to the cold gas in the dense regions of the interstellar medium and in protoplanetary disks, and to the hot gas of planetary atmospheres.
Main Collaborators
- INAF-IRA (Bologna) : A. Garufi, A. Giannetti
- INAF-Arcetri (Firenze) : M.T. Beltrán, E. Bianchi, C. Codella, D. Fedele, F. Fontani, L. Pino, L. Podio, S. Randich, G. Sacco
- INAF-IAPS (Roma) : S. Molinari, A. Traficante, E. Schisano
- Università di Milano (Milano): G. Lodato, S. Facchini, G. Rosotti
- ESO Garching (Germany)
- CEA Saclay (France)
- University of Hidelberg (Germany)
- ICREA Barcelona (Catalunia, Spain)
- University of Hawaii (USA)
- Rice University (USA)
- University College Dublin (Ireland)
- Max Planck Institute fuer Extraterrestrische Physik und fuer Astronomie (Gernany)