Dusty Planetary Systems and the Hunt for Planets with Prof. Farisa Morales (JPL/CSUN/Moorpark College)

Refreshments will be served at 4:30PM 

Seating is limited and is available on a first come, first served basis.

Understanding how planets and planetary systems form is critical to understanding the stages of planetary development and the uniqueness of our Solar System. The current understanding of formation is that planets and their star form from a collapsing cloud of gas and dust, or nebula. The resulting disk contains a central young star surrounded by the material needed to build planets. Over millions of years, disk material aggregates and grows into a number of planets, leaving little material left in the disk. Many contributions to the study of protoplanetary disks and planet formation have come from infrared views, such as those from the Spitzer Space Telescope, which can peer through dust clouds, and is celebrating its 16th anniversary this fall. Until relatively recently, the only example of a planetary system has been our own; however, over the past few decades the detection of exoplanets has shown the diversity of planets and planetary systems and contributed to our understanding of how planetary systems form. Astronomers study other solar systems to address fundamental questions about our knowledge and place in the universe, such as "how does the universe work" and "are we alone"?

Professor Farisa Morales will share content about planetary system formation, leading us to explore the uniqueness of our Solar System. The briefing will also include information about the tools and techniques scientists use to study these systems. She will also speak to the formation of planets in disks, and ongoing efforts to detect them.