The Protostellar Disk Population in the Orion Molecular Clouds

John Tobin

Thursday December 6th, 16:40

Protostellar disks are thought to form early in the star formation process due to conservation of angular momentum. These disks are the future sites of planet formation, but may also be the sites of binary/multiple star formation if the disk is massive enough to be gravitationally unstable. Our understanding of the current properties of protostellar disks has evolved considerably during the past 5 years thanks to the VLA and ALMA. Moreover, numerous proto-binaries/multiples have been found in nearby star forming regions on 100s of AU scales which appear to be consistent with formation with disks. I will review the significant observational progress in the field that has advanced our understanding of disk formation and where disk formation research may go in the future.