Chao-Chin Yang (Physics and Astronomy) was awarded a multi-institutional research grant by NASA through the Theoretical and Computational Astrophysics Networks (TCAN) program. Led by New Mexico State University, other collaborators include 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ, University of Arizona, Iowa State University, and SETI Institute in the United States, and Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany. Yang is a co-I/Institutional PI and will lead the 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ node on the project. The grant totals $1.3 million with 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ receiving $185,000. The team will investigate the influence of gas and dust dynamics in the protoplanetary disk around a newborn star on the formation of kilometer-scale planetary bodies — such as asteroids and comets in our own solar system — which are important intermediate building blocks of planets.
