Protoplanetary Disk Fraction in Young Clusters and the Timescale for Planet Formation

Author(s)

S. R. Fernandes, P. S. Teixeira, J. F. Alves, J. C. Correia, F. D. Santos, C. J. Lada, E. A. Lada

Abstract

The scientific quest to understand the origin and frequency of planets

requires the study of statistically significant populations of young

stellar objects of different evolutionary states and in differing

astrophysical environments. The main goal of this project is to conduct

a coherent and systematic broad band infrared wavelength study of ten

young embedded, or partially embedded, clusters in order to determine

the frequency distribution of circumstellar disks in each cluster. This

research program is expected to provide a solid empirical foundation for

understanding how circumstellar disks evolve to form planetary systems

together with an estimate of the frequency of planetary systems in the

Galaxy.

Organisation(s)

Department of Astrophysics

External organisation(s)

Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, University of Florida, Gainesville, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

Volume

287

Pages

325-329

Publication date

2003

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

103004 Astrophysics

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