Most stars in the galaxy - including the Sun - are born in dense, massive star-forming regions, with elevated far-ultraviolet (FUV) radiation fields compared to the current local interstellar medium. Therefore, understanding how protoplanetary disks evolve under such conditions is essential: these environments may affect the final planetary system architectures, or even limit the ability of planets to form. Indeed, models suggest that external irradiation can relatively easily cause mass loss in disks.

This seminar discusses how we can study this observationally. The evolution of protoplanetary disk masses in the two massive star-forming regions closest to the Sun, Orion and Serpens, is studied using observations of the millimeter dust emission from hundreds of protoplanetary disks with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). We will also zoom in on how the chemistry in the molecular layers of these protoplanetary disks is affected by external irradiation in ProDiMo models, and how these models can improve our understanding of what drives disk evolution in the most common Galactic star-forming environments.

recording: www.youtube.com/watch