The Formation and Evolution of Planetary Systems: The Search for and Characterization of Young Planets

Charles Beichman, Isabelle Baraffe, Christopher Crockett, Sarah Dodson-Robinson, Jonathan Fortney, Andrea Ghez, Thomas P. Greene, Adam Kraus, Doug Lin, Naved Mahmud, Fabien Malbet, Mark Marley, Rafael Millan-Gabet, Lisa Prato, Ben Oppenheimer, Michal Simon, John Stauffer, Angelle Tanner, T. Velusamy

Published 2009-02-17Version 1

Despite the revolution in our knowledge resulting from the detection of planets around mature stars, we know almost nothing about planets orbiting young stars because rapid rotation and active photospheres preclude detection by radial velocities or transits and because direct imaging has barely penetrated the requisite range of high contrast and angular resolution. Of the techniques presently under consideration for the coming decade, only space-based astrometry offers the prospect of discovering gas giants (100 to >> 300 Mearth), lower mass systems such as icy giants (10 to 100 Mearth), and even a few rocky, super-Earths 300 Mearth) orbiting stars ranging in age from 1 to 100 Myr. Astrometry will complement high contrast imaging which should be able to detect gas giants (1~10 MJup) in orbits from a few to a few hundred AU. An astrometric survey in combination with imaging data for a subsample of objects will allow a detailed physical understanding of the formation and evolution of young gas giant planets impossible to achieve by any one technique.