Ithaca College

Physics professor Luke Keller and physics student Jordan Hyatt '10 traveled to Heidelberg, Germany, September 8-12 to present their research on planet formation at the "Cosmic Dust: Near and Far" conference (http://www.mpia-hd.mpg.de/DNF08/).

Keller gave an invited talk, and Hyatt presented a poster. Both presentations summarized recent work in Keller's lab aimed at understanding the origin and physical nature of organic material orbiting very young stars.

"Cosmic Dust" Conference Website

Measurements of infrared light from this material, which resembles soot or fine dust, are helping astronomers understand the beginning stages of solar system formation.

Keller and Hyatt's work -- performed in collaboration with an international team, including IC alumna Sweta Shah '07 -- is the subject of a journal article published in the September 1, 2008, edition of the Astrophysical Journal (Keller et al. 2008, ApJ 684: 411-29).