Institut national de recherche scientifique français Univerité Pierre et Marie Curie Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7

Disks around evolved binaries : do they form second-generation planets ?

lundi 29 novembre 2021, par Jacques Kluska (KU Leuven)

Jeudi 16 décembre 2021 à 16h00 , Lieu : Salle de réunion du bâtiment 16 et Visioconférence

Most of the planets were formed around young stars. But can they also form around dying stars ? The origin of the diversity and comple : ity of the detected exoplanetary systems stems from how they form in protoplanetary disks. These disks are intensively studied around young stars thanks to the high-angular resolution provided by the VLT or ALMA. However, similar disks are also found around evolved stars, namely post-AGB binaries, raising the exciting but yet unanswered possibility of second-generation planet formation around evolved stars.

We have now the possibility to probe this possibility using high angular resolution instruments. In this talk, I will show the latest results of an extensive observing campaign of these disks using infrared interferometry at the VLTI (PIONIER, GRAVITY, MATISSE) and an innovative image reconstruction technique to decipher the complex interferometric signal. These observations show that these disks share many similarities with protoplanetary disks around young stars.

Whether or not planet formation is possible at the end of stellar evolution, these disks enable us to test planet formation processes in a parameter space that is unmet around young stars (e.g., short disk lifetime, high stellar luminosity) and further constrain planet formation processes.