The Dynamic Chemistry of Planet-Forming Disks

Add to your list(s) Download to your calendar using vCal

• Luke Keyte (UCL)
• Tuesday 06 May 2025, 13:00-14:00
• Ryle seminar room + ONLINE - Details to be sent by email.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Dr Dolev Bashi.

The chemical composition of a planet’s atmosphere is intimately tied to the volatile inventory of the protoplanetary disk in which it forms. Establishing this connection requires detailed measurements of elemental abundances in disks at small spatial scales relevant to planet formation. In this talk, I will present two targeted studies of well-known Herbig Ae/Be systems, combining ALMA observations with chemical modelling to probe disk chemistry. In HD 100546 , we detect complex molecular asymmetries, interpreted as the result of shadowing from planet-induced structures within the inner cavity, generating azimuthal temperature variations that drive chemical diversity. In HD 169142 , we investigate the first detection of SiS emission from a protoplanetary disk—nearly a billion times brighter than predicted under typical conditions—indicative of planet-induced shocks that release silicon from dust grains into the gas phase. These findings reveal that planet formation can significantly reshape the chemical environment of disks, with direct implications for how emerging planets accrete their atmospheres. Together, these studies emphasise the dynamic and heterogeneous nature of disk chemistry and provide new insights into the origins of the wide diversity observed in exoplanetary atmospheres.

This talk is part of the Exoplanet Seminars series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• Cambridge Astronomy Talks
• Combined External Astrophysics Talks DAMTP
• Cosmology, Astrophysics and General Relativity
• Exoplanet Seminars
• Institute of Astronomy Talk Lists
• LCLU Departmental Talks
• Ryle seminar room + ONLINE - Details to be sent by email

Note that ex-directory lists are not shown.