Series: Astronomy Colloquium
Date: Wednesday 05-Nov-2025
Time: 16:05-17:00 (4:05-5:00 pm)
Location: ATL 2400
Speaker: Dr. Sierra Grant (Carnegie Institution for Science)
Title: Building new worlds: Witnessing star, planet, and moon formation with JWST
Stars are born surrounded by disks of gas and dust, which are the birth places of planets. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) can uniquely peer into these planetary nurseries, allowing us to determine what ingredients planets are forming from. I will discuss the water-rich disks around stars like our Sun and the carbon-rich disks around very small stars. Finally, I will show that we are entering a new era of discovery, as JWST is allowing us to probe, for the first time, disks around planets themselves, which are the construction sites for moons.
In-person colloquia are usually preceded by espresso and ice cream at 1:45 pm outside room PSC 1150 and are followed by an informal reception at 5:15 pm in that room. Anyone interested in talking with the speaker, or being added to the colloquium announcement email list, should contact the colloquium organizer Dr. Richard Mushotzky. Lunch will normally be reserved for the speaker to talk to graduate students. Anyone asking a question during a talk is asked to raise their hand and be acknowledged before speaking. Contact Dr. Richard Mushotzky for details.
Colloquium Organizer:
Dr. Richard Mushotzky
Special accommodations for individuals with disabilities can be made by calling (301) 405-3001. It would be appreciated if we are notified at least one week in advance.
