Summary
I am a Royal Society University Research Fellow studying planet formation and the 'protoplanetary' discs in which the planets form. I build theory and computer models to explain the physics involved. Previously, I was a post-doc at Imperial and, before that, at the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge.
One of the biggest mysteries today is how solids grow from the micron sizes seen in the interstellar medium to become fully-formed planets. This field is currently undergoing an observational revolution driven by the arrival of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), which is probing the gas and solids in protoplanetary discs with unprecedented resolution and sensitivity. This is set to continue in the near future with the arrival of the James Webb Space Telescope and the Extremely Large Telescopes. The challenge today is to understand what these exquisite observations can tell us about the physics of planet formation.
Publications
Journals
Stevenson ET, Ribas Á, Speedie J, et al., 2024, Searching for planet-driven dust spirals in ALMA visibilities, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, ISSN:0035-8711
Robinson A, Booth RA, Owen JE, 2024, Introducing CUDISC: a 2D code for protoplanetary disc structure and evolution calculations, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol:529, ISSN:0035-8711, Pages:1524-1541
Curry A, Booth R, Owen JE, et al., 2024, The evolution of catastrophically evaporating rocky planets, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol:528, ISSN:0035-8711, Pages:4314-4336
Rowther S, Nealon R, Meru F, et al., 2024, The role of drag and gravity on dust concentration in a gravitationally unstable disc, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol:528, ISSN:0035-8711, Pages:2490-2500
Smallwood JL, Nealon R, Cuello N, et al., 2024, Formation of misaligned second-generation discs through fly-by encounters, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol:527, ISSN:0035-8711, Pages:2094-2109