MI-Planets is an interdisciplinary research initiative aimed at understanding the formation, evolution, and structure of planetary systems including the Solar System as well as those around other stars in our Milky Way galaxy and beyond. We also attempt to develop and test theories of planet formation through observations of individual objects as well as population level exoplanet demographics. We seek to understand physical and chemical processes that shape the properties of the planets we study. Research into star formation and the evolution of circumstellar disks around young stars sets context for these processes, and provides initial conditions for, and constraints on, the dynamics and chemistry important in planet formation. Researchers in our network are involved in theoretical, numerical, observational, and empirical research, as well as the development of novel instrumentation to enhance our efforts. Ultimately understanding the outcomes of planet formation processes as a function of initial conditions and environment, will enable us to extrapolate studies of nearby systems to the whole observable Universe, including the prospects for life to emerge elsewhere.
Welcome to MI-Planets!
