Institute for Advanced Study Informal Astrophysics Seminar

While observations of extra-solar protoplanetary disks have been improving by leaps and bounds, they still cannot probe the early stages of planet formation. The best data we have for the sub-micron to cm phase of the planet formation process, which plays an essential role in setting the chemistry of terrestrial planets, is the meteoritical record itself. In particular the sub-mm melted glassy beads known as chondrules testify to the environment in which solids grew and were processed. I will give an overview of several interesting oddities in the meteoritical record which all point to a fundamental framework of vertically stratified protoplanetary disks; with chondrules melted in active, hot upper layers and planetesimals formed at the cool mid-plane.