Astronomy Live: Exploring Cosmic Building Blocks

Tuesday, October 13, 2026

7 pm

Swirling clouds surround a bright planetary object.
Artist's impression of the dust disk and a forming planet around TW Hydrae. 
NAOJ (National Astronomical Observatory of Japan)

Tuesday, October 13, 2026

7 pm

How do planets form? 

Join astrophysicist and NSF postdoctoral fellow in the Museum’s Department of Astrophysics Emily Calamari for a journey from the chemical building blocks found in meteorites in our own solar system to the swirling disks of gas and dust surrounding young stars. 

Using observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the James Webb Space Telescope, explore how planets take shape and discover what new observations are revealing about the origins of worlds throughout the universe. 

This program utilizes OpenSpace software supported by NASA under award No NNX16AB93A. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.