Brown Dwarfs - linking stars and planets - A talk by Dr Sonali Shukla of the University of Cambridge

Synopsis: Stars and planets are fundamentally different astronomical object yet their formation processes are intertwined. Brown dwarfs straddle the realm of both objects, exhibiting characteristics of each but not fully fitting into either category. The talk will explore the history, discovery and latest results from the study of brown dwarfs and relate them to our lowest mass dwarf stars and biggest known planets. Brown dwarfs can lead us to better understand how stars and planets form in tandem, both in our solar system and beyond.

Dr. Shukla holds a PhD in astrophysics from Vanderbilt University, USA. Her research areas have included understanding the formation of young low-mass stars and disks around young stars and brown dwarfs. She spent a year as a pre-doctoral fellow at the Spitzer Science Center, Caltech, and continued her research as a postdoctoral researcher at Penn State University. She has served in education and public outreach,…