JDISCS | Programs

Deep MIRI spectra of three molecule-rich disks to detect rare species, and trace chemistry near 1 AU that shapes planetary C, N, and O budgets. Deep spectra of two bright asteroids to provide very high signal-to-noise spectral response curves that enable robust removal of MIRI-MRS fringes and unlock the full scientific yield.

JWST/MIRI-MRS spectra of the complete ALMA-DSHARP disk sample to map gas-phase inventories and radial abundance profiles in terrestrial planet-forming zones, and to link mid-IR chemistry with mm substructures to test how disk evolution and planet formation shape molecular reservoirs.

Water emission spectra of a luminosity-controlled sample of disks spanning ALMA ring and pebble-retention morphologies to measure pebble mass flux into the inner 3 au and test how pebble delivery shapes the formation of terrestrial planets versus super-Earths.

MIRI-MRS spectra of the inner ≤10 au of four disks from ALMA’s five-disk large chemistry survey (MAPS) to complete a radial chemical inventory from terrestrial zones to outer regions, yielding column density profiles of major volatile carriers and key organics and constraints on C/N/O/S elemental ratios across planet-forming radii.

MIRI spectra of the complete 30-disk AGE-PRO sample spanning embedded, middle-age, and dispersing phases to measure inner (<10 au) volatile abundances (H2O, CO, CO2), combine with ALMA outer (>20 au) mass and chemistry maps, and chart how volatile budgets and pebble growth and drift reshape compositions across disk radii over the disk lifetime.

Uses JWST/MIRI MRS to obtain mid-IR spectra of a surprising class of 30–50 Myr-old, late M (>M4.5) stars with active accretion, to distinguish whether their unusually long-lived disks are primordial gas-rich systems or instead extreme, collisionally produced debris disks.

JWST/MIRI spectra of 40 disks from the Disk-Exoplanet C/Onnection ALMA survey, combining 18 archival and 22 new targets with ALMA outer-disk C/O constraints, to determine terrestrial-zone compositions including C/O, test whether the disk–exoplanet mismatch is real or a sampling bias, and identify drivers of chemical diversity such as pebble drift, ice-line chemistry, and irradiation.

JWST/MIRI MRS observations of seven proplyds exposed to external UV fields 10^4 to 10^6 above the ISM average, to characterize irradiated disk chemistry from the inner <10 au to the outer disk and quantify how FUV/EUV irradiation, ionization, photochemistry, and icy pebble drift shape volatile inventories and gas-phase C/O.

JWST/MIRI spectra of 20 young Class II disks in Rho Oph (7 archival and 13 new) with complementary ALMA coverage to measure inner-disk compositions including C/O, compare to outer-disk chemistry, and test whether high inner C/O is common enough to enable in-situ giant-planet formation.

JWST/MIRI spectra of 40 Class I and Flat Spectrum disks in Ophiuchus, paired with existing high-resolution ALMA data, to measure inner-disk molecular inventories in the first Myr, constrain pebble fluxes and volatile transport in terrestrial zones, and establish how early chemistry differs from older Class II disks.

JWST/MIRI MRS spectra of 77 diverse, externally UV-irradiated, protoplanetary disks in the Orion Nebula Cluster to assess how UV exposure reshapes disk chemistry—quantifying radicals, ions, PAHs, and organics—and to gauge how prevalent these UV-driven signatures are compared with isolated disks.

Combines JWST/MIRI MRS spectra of 12 disks around very low-mass stars with ALMA imaging of their outer disk structure, aiming to test how outer disk architecture (e.g., cavities, gaps) influences the chemical composition in the inner, planet-forming regions.

Combines MIRI-MRS spectra of 14 protoplanetary disks spanning a wide range of accretion rates and stellar masses, plus 8 archival low-accretion sources, to measure hydrocarbons relative to water and test whether low accretion promotes carbon-rich chemistry independent of stellar mass.

MIRI MRS spectra of ALMA-resolved disks in the UV-irradiated Sigma Orionis cluster to measure inner-disk water reservoirs and test whether the observed anti-correlation between inner water content and outer disk substructure, linked to pebble trapping and wide-separation giants, holds in photoevaporative environments.