This week we have Aster Taylor from the University of Michigan visiting us on Friday. Please note the special time and location.

Aster Taylor | Grad. Student, University of Michigan
Friday, Oct. 24th 1:30pm | PAB B360 | Zoom Link

Title: Stellar System Formation: Dark Comets, Interstellar Objects, and Giant Planets
One of the critical questions of astronomy is how stellar systems form and evolve. This problem is incredibly complex and requires understanding from multiple lines of inquiry. In this talk, I will present my work tracing several pieces of this puzzle—giant planet formation, the dynamics and populations of solar system small bodies, and interstellar objects. First, as detections of giant planets become accessible, it is critical to be able to accurately interpret these observations. Semianalytical models can be used to constrain the properties of forming systems and to understand the mechanics of planet formation. Second, the recently-identified population of dark comets provides novel insight into volatile populations in the solar system. My work provides a theoretical origin and evolutionary history of these objects with important implications for solar system volatiles. Finally, with the discovery of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, we can now trace the population of interstellar objects and glean crucial insights into exoplanetary systems. I will show how the age and parent metallicity of interstellar objects can be used to infer the planet formation history of the Galaxy and the impact of the Rubin observatory.