When Worlds Collide: Inauguration of the Munich Center for Geoastronomy

Keynote Talk: Bridging Stars to Planets: Geoastronomy with Brown Dwarfs

6 Oct 2026, 11:00

1h

A 140 (LMU Main Building (Hauptgebäude))

Speaker

Prof. Adam Burgasser (UC San Diego, USA)

Description

Between the highest-mass planets and lowest-mass stars, there exists a liminal population of brown dwarfs. Co-discovered with the first extrasolar planets, these objects have diverse formation channels and planetary-like atmospheres. In this talk, I describe how modern studies of brown dwarfs require deep connections between stellar and planetary science, from formation to evolution to atmospheric processes; and discuss how this science will help us to better understand the origin and evolution of our broader Milky Way.

Presentation materials

An artists concept of a brown dwarf, in one of whose clouds scientists have detected traces of the molecule phosphine.png