18 March: Catherine Walsh

Speaker: Catherine Walsh (University of Leeds)

Date: Wednesday 18 March 2026

Time: 15:00

Location: Physics 3.21 (Berry)

The Chemistry of Planet Formation in the Era of ALMA

Over the past 15 years ALMA (the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) has revolutionised the study of the structure and chemistry of protoplanetary disks, which are the sites of planet formation around young stars.  With its unprecedented sensitivity and angular resolution, we are now able to map the distribution of dust and gas on the scales at which gas giant planets form, revealing the ingredients which will go into forming new planetary systems. In this talk I will give an overview of the structure and chemistry of protoplanetary disks, and present highlights from 15 years of observations with ALMA, which includes the first detection of complex organic molecules important for prebiotic chemistry, and the first detection of a circumplanetary disk around a young planet.