nai

Project Progress

This project consists of two related themes. The first is the
study of the physical state of protoplanetary disks, subject
to irradiation from the central star. In particular, we focus
on the thermal state of the gas, and how this affect the accretion
of gas and the formation of planetesimals. This calculation is
ongoing and is the thesis project of graduate student Steve Berukoff.
The second theme is the study of irradiated giant planets. We
are pursueing this on both observational and theoretical fronts.
Our theoretical work is related to the study of radiative transfer
and atmospheric dynamics. Recent highlights include models of
the atmospheres of the first close-in planets to have their direct
infrared fluxes measured. On the observational side, we have
a program to measure the infrared phase curves of close giant
planets using the Spitzer Space Telescope. The highlight of this
is our first clear detection, which appears in Science, Vol 314, pg 623.