A ~10 MJ planet at ~160 AU drives 2 giant spiral shocks with morphologies in near-infrared scattered light closely resembling the observations of MWC 758

MWC 758

Benisty et al. 2015

see also Grady et al. 2013

Example: Spiral Arms

A realization of the giant-companion-symmetric-arm model in the HD 100453 system. A 0.3 solar mass companion drives two arms as imaged by SPHERE around the primary star.

HD 100453

Model

Signatures Produced by Other Physical Processes in Disks

Similar to the studies of planet-induced structures, I am also carrying out studies to examine observational signatures of various other physical processes in protoplanetary disks.

For example, If disks are massive enough to trigger the gravitational instability, they may develop symmetric pairs of spiral arms in scattered light that also closely resemble observations, as shown below.

Multiple planets can open a wide common gap. The morphologies of these gaps closely resemble the observations of transitional disks at both near-infrared and mm wavelengths.

Example: Gaps

J1604

Model

My research interests lie primarily in the area of exoplanets and planet formation. I simulate observational signatures of planets forming in circumstellar disks, and compare them with real observations. My work is largely motivated by observations of disks taken by instruments such as ALMA , VLT/SPHERE, Gemini/GPI, Subaru/HiCIAO, and VLA.

My research is supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Movies from simulations

Observational Planet Formation

Planets form in gaseous protoplanetary disks surrounding newborn stars. As such, the best way to learn how they form observationally, is to watch them forming in disks. By doing so, we can directly address fundamental questions like when, where, and how do planets form. Specifically, many structures, such as gaps and spiral arms, have been resolved in protoplanetary disks; they are mostly likely associated with embedded (unseen) planets.

Models of planet-induced structures and comparisons with actual data

In disks with low viscosity, super-Earth planets (1 - 17 Earth masses) can produce multiple gaps and rings