ROCCATAGLIATA Veronica

Research interests

My scientific research covers different observational aspects of the star formation process: from filaments to young stars and clusters. Observations at different wavelengths and different techniques (photometry, spectroscopy and interferometry) are necessary to trace different physical phenomena.

During the formation of a young star, a protoplanetary disk is created around it. Since this disk is the environment and it provides the material from which planets are created, it is fundamental to study their evolution and dissipation. This can be influenced by the presence of a strong UV field from high-mass stars. I am also interested on high-resolution observations of protoplanetary disks and debris disks, when a planetary system might already be present in the system. Most recently, the second release of Gaia is revolutionizing the study of star formation and young clusters. Apart of a refinement of the distance of the clusters, it is possible to obtain a 3D spatial distribution of the cluster members. In few cases, a multiple population has been also detected in young clusters. These results obtained from the Gaia data have a strong impact on other fields of star formation, e.g. those mentioned before.