Direct Imaging of Planet Formation

The vast majority of detected planets are observed indirectly, using their small perturbation on the light emitted by the host stars. In recent years, however, the world's largest ground based telescopes have succeeded in directly imaging the light coming from some planets themselves. I will present our comprehensive theory for the mass, luminosity, and spin of gas giant planets during their final stages of formation - when they simultaneously contract and accrete gas from a disk. I will apply this theory to the luminosity and spectrum obtained by the novel direct-imaging technique, highlighting the recently discovered PDS 70 system, where two planets were directly observed during formation for the first time.

Note: The seminar will be given *on campus*, and Sivan will be available for discussions during the day for anyone interested. Anyone interested in speaking with him is invited to register for a slot here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1o-xN-B27a_htzTMo-dwdfMmX4mzWfGg…