Speaker: Marc Audard (University of Geneva)

Date: 11 January 2024

Time: 15:00

Location: Berry lecture theatre

Accretion in Star Formation

Star formation occurs over timescales of several hundred thousands of years during which matter from the surrounding cloud is accreted onto the young protostar. However, this process is not steady state: outbursts can occur during which accretion is significantly increased by several orders of magnitude during tens of years and longer. These events are crucial, e.g., to explain the luminosity distribution of protostars, and have a profound impact on the protoplanetary disks and envelopes, in particular their chemistry and, thus, on planet formation. In this talk, I will provide evidence of episodic accretion and its importance for star and planet formation and will present Gaia results on the census of young accreting stars in our Galaxy thanks to young stellar object variability.