The role of water for the formation of planets: new clues from Herschel

by Inga Kamp (Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, Netherlands)

Friday 25 Jan 2013, 15:15 → 16:30 Europe/Stockholm

Nordita Astro Building (122:026)

The disks around young stars, protoplanetary disks, are thought to be the birthplaces of planetary systems such as our own. Spitzer, Herschel and ground-based observations showed in several cases the existence of water in such disks around young stars. On the other hand, Solar System exploration and observations of comets allow us to study specific processes in much more detail compared to protoplanetary disk research. The combination of evidence from protoplanetary disks and our own Solar System is inspiring the discussion of how much water vapour and ice is present at early times to form gas giant planets, water worlds, but also at later times to deliver the Earth oceans and eventually lead to the emergence of life. I will discuss our current understanding of the chemistry in proptoplanetary disks, the water vapour and ice reservoirs and potential mixing processes and relate this to evidence collected within our own Solar System.