As of Cycle 4, the JDISCS collaboration is comprised of 14 GO programs, listed below.
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.
A DSHARP-MIRI Treasury Survey of Chemistry of Planet Forming Regions
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.
The Chemistry of Planet Formation: A JWST-ALMA Survey of 4 Planet-Forming Disks
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.
Why do some 50 Myr old stars still accrete?
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.