Seminar: From Circumplanetary Disks to Icy Moons
All solar system giant planets are host to a retinue of moons. Moon formation seems to be a common outcome of the giant planet accretion process. Most of these moons are believed to have formed in relatively miniature "circumplanetary disks" (CPDs) as part of a scaled-down process analogous to the formation of planets. The eventual composition and interior evolution of these moons is linked intimately to conditions within the CPD. Striking parallels between Jupiter's Galilean moon system and the enigmatic compact TRAPPIST-1 system suggest that similar processes may be at play during the formation of giant planet satellites and the planets of cool, low-mass stars. The study of the icy moons of the solar system may thus offer us a window into "planet" formation of an entirely different regime than that which formed our own Earth and solar system. Upcoming interplanetary spacecraft missions such as JUICE will allow us to begin unraveling the properties of these potentially habitable icy worlds from up close, while next generation ground-based telescopes will peer directly into their origins. In this seminar I will discuss the state of the art in the theoretical and observational efforts to understand moon formation, and review my work on the physical and chemical evolution of CPDs. I will discuss how moon system architectures are tied to their formation environment, how the moons physical and chemical composition are linked to conditions within the CPD, and near-term prospects for observing moons in the act of forming.