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Thesis Supervisors: Mario van den Ancker
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Abstract
One of the most important developments in astronomy over the last decades has been the discovery of planetary systems in stars
other than our own sun. At present, more than 500 such exo-planets are known, presenting a staggering diversity in planetary
architectures. The reason for this diversity is still unknown, but is suspected to be related to differences in their formation
history, and the different processes that act to dissipate the disks around young stars from which these planets have formed.
Using recently obtained data with SPHERE, the new high-contrast imaging facility at ESO's Very Large Telescope, the PhD project
offered here aims to directly image a sample of circumstellar disks surrounding Herbig Ae/Be stars -- recently formed
intermediate-mass stars. An important part of the thesis work will be to employ and further develop methods (Angular Differential
Imaging, Spectral Differential Imaging) to optimally correct for instrumental artifacts in coronagraphic adaptive-optics
data-sets, such as are now commonly produced by SPHERE at the VLT and GPI at Gemini.
After this initial step in data observation and analysis, the second part of the thesis research will concentrate on modeling of
the disks using state-of-the-art radiative transfer models developed by collaborators at ESO's neighbouring institutes. These
models will probe the underlying physical structure which determines the appearance of the disk and allow us to make a prediction
for the final outcome of the planet-forming process in these disks.