PATH: the path to star & planet formation in the JWST era

Research Unit 1 (Uni. Milan): Prof. Giuseppe Lodato - Research Unit 2 (INAF): Dr. Alessio Caratti o Garatti (INAF-OACN)

Progetto PRIN-MUR 2022 #20228JPA3A - INAF CUP: C53D23000930006

Project Abstract

PATH combines state of the art multi-wavelength observations (using the James Webb Space Telescope, the Very Large Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter Array) and advanced theoretical and numerical modeling to provide an innovative global view (from large to small scales) of the gaseous and dusty discs that surround newly born stars, and are responsible both for mass accretion onto the forming star and for shaping the environment in which planets form. In this way, we will shed light on some fundamental unanswered questions: (a) How is matter transported and recycled into the disc, overcoming the centrifugal barrier? (b) How does the evolution of mass within the disc affect the development of disc instabilities and the formation of the building blocks of planets? (c) How does the formation of "families" of celestial bodies affect the shape of the discs and thus the architecture of the nascent planetary systems?

The team is made of two research units. Unit 1 is made of scientists from "Università degli Studi di Milano" and led by Prof. Giuseppe Lodato; Unit2 is made of scientists from "Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica" and led by Dr. Alessio Caratti o Garatti. Both Units have identified a set of observations and numerical experiments that will shed light on the structure and dynamics of protostellar discs, thus defining the path that leads to the formation of stars and planets.

Project Work Packages (WPs)

WP1. Protostellar recycling: a global view of accretion and outflows through space and time with JWST

Main goals:

Study envelope-disc and disc-star accretion rates for a sample of young stars observed with JWST.
Infer outflow rates from line emission with JWST.
Construct disc population synthesis models under wind driven accretion.

WP2. Assessing the role of the disc self-gravity down to the Class II phase with ALMA.

Main goals:

Measuring the disc mass dynamically from CO rotation curves with ALMA.
Measuring the “GI-wiggle” from ALMA kinematics and the likelihood of disc fragmentation.
Determining the role of GIs in the formation of planetesimals and planetary cores.

WP3. Multiplicity and dynamical interactions in YSOs with JWST, ALMA and SPHERE.

Main goals:

Derive disc morphologies in multiple systems from SPHERE and ALMA imaging.
What's the impact of Kozai-Lidov oscillations to promote or inhibit polar disc alignment?
What's the origin of accretion outbursts in the embedded phase?

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