Formation of Planetary Sysytems

Dept. of Astronomy mini-course

Testing theories of the formation of planetary systems was always difficult since we only knew of one planetary system. Now, at last, planet-sized objects have been discovered around several other stars, and in addition there is strong evidence for protoplanetary disks around many young stars. Planned instruments such as orbiting interferometers could dramatically enhance our capability to observe other planets in the near future. The search for other planetary systems is likely to blossom into one of the most exciting areas of observational astrophysics over the next decade.

The goal of this mini-course is to describe briefly our current understanding of the formation of planets from protoplanetary disks. Possible topics include:

  • Properties of the solar system and other planetary systems: planetary masses and orbits, Bode's law, limits on detectability
  • Evidence for disks around stars ($\beta$ Pic, proplyds, mm observations, Kuiper belt)
  • Disk dynamics (angular momentum transfer in disks, the Hill radius, etc.)
  • Making planets from planetesimals (Safronov model, the accretion rate problem, runaway growth, formation of giant planet envelopes)
  • Chemical and isotopic abundances
  • Satellites and planetary spins (impact origin of the Moon, tidal evolution, origin of obliquities)
  • Formation of the Oort comet cloud
  • Long-term evolution of planetary orbits
    Lecture Schedule: 
    Tuesday            Friday

Feb. 25            Feb. 28
Mar.  4            Mar.  7
Mar. 10               -
  -                   -
Mar. 25               -
Apr.  1            Apr.  4
Apr. 8 (exam)

    Scott Tremaine
tremaine@cita.utoronto.ca
Room 1203C, x8-6477