Institute for Advanced Study/Princeton University Joint Astrophysics Colloquium

In the past 5 years, new observational facilities have provided remarkable data sets against which we can evaluate theories of star formation and planet formation. I will describe three different theoretical investigations motivated or corroborated by new observations. First I will discuss the formation of binary companions via disk fragmentation due to gravitational instability. I will illustrate how ALMA and careful statistical studies have begun to validate a long-held theoretical picture. Next, I will discuss the surprising high resolution ALMA images of protoplanetary disk asymmetries. I will show how careful numerical models can validate (or not) the interpretation of these images as evidence for the Rossby Wave Instability. Finally, I will discuss the dynamics of the Pluto-Charon circumbinary satellite system. The New Horizons space mission not only provides new insights into the formation of these bodies, but also provides a record of the Kuiper Belt and thus planet formation in the outer solar system.