The first part (Sections 2- 5) aims to explore the environmental factors linked to the star formation process and the evolution of protoplanetary discs that can impact the final build of the exoplanets that Ariel will observe.
The goal of this paper is therefore twofold. The insight on the link between the star formation process and the compositional build of planets will become an increasingly important piece of the puzzle of unveiling the nature of exoplanets over the coming years. Ariel’s observations will further revolutionize our view of the formation and evolution of both individual planets and planetary systems by systematically introducing a new dimension, their atmospheric composition, in the study of these subjects. The overall picture emerging from all these fields of study, while still incomplete, is nevertheless clearly indicating how the characteristics of each individual planet are uniquely sculpted by those of the environment in which it forms, in turn set by the star and its own formation process.Īriel, the M4 mission of the European Space Agency deemed for launch in 2029, will characterise the composition of hundreds of exoplanetary atmospheres, proving us with an unprecedentedly large and diversified observational sample. These advances have proceeded in parallel with the continuous growth of the known population of extrasolar planets, whose current size exceeds 4000 members and is allowing for population studies at the level of individual planets, of planetary systems as a whole, and of the link between stellar and planetary characteristics. These observations are being accompanied by improvements in the compositional characterisation of the discs themselves, allowing the first direct comparisons between the volatile budgets in protostellar objects and in the comets of our Solar System. The improved resolution of observational facilities is allowing us to directly observe, for the first time, the gaps and rings in the gas and dust of protoplanetary discs that were the theoretically predicted signatures of the appearance of giant planets. The study of the initial stages of the life of planetary systems, when planets are forming within the gaseous embrace of protoplanetary discs, has been undergoing a transformation in recent years.
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