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Centre for Star and Planet Formation
Background
As far as we know, our solar system is unique. It could, in principle, be the only planetary system in the universe to harbour life. As such, attempting to reconstruct its history has been one of the most fundamental pursuits in the natural sciences. But the breadth of expertise required to develop a unified model of solar system formation is not available within any individual field of universe science. And to assess the uniqueness of our existence, we must fully understand the formation and earliest evolution of the solar system. This can only be achieved by establishing a multidisciplinary research environment nurturing synergistic interactions between the fields cosmo chemistry, astrophysics and astronomy. This is the concept we propose with the Centre for Star and Planet Formation.
Research activities
Our goal is to provide observational and theoretical constraints that will help unravel the early history of our solar system in the context of its astrophysical setting. Importantly, we will assess the role of nearby massive stars and supernovas in the formation history of primitive solids, asteroids and planets. Our hope is to understand the circumstances that allowed for the formation of the terrestrial planets in our solar system, including the preservation of water worlds like Earth, where life has been thriving for nearly 4 billion years. Our objectives will be achieved by integrating high-precision isotope studies of meteorites with stellar evolution theory, astrophysical models and astronomical observations.
Contact
The Centre for Star and Planet Formation is highly multidisciplinary, engaging partners from the Natural History Museum of Denmark, the Niels Bohr Institute and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The Centre's headquarters are located at the Natural History Museum of Denmark under the leadership of Professor Martin Bizzarro (bizzarro@snm.ku.dk). Visit the Centre's webpage at www.starplan.net for more information.