Assistant research professor Chao-Chin Yang 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 UNLV, 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 UNLV node on the project. The grant totals $1.3 million with UNLV 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.
This award brings UNLV Physics & Astronomy's total active Theoretical and Computational Astrophysics Networks (TCAN) program awards to three. Meaning we have more active TCAN programs than any other institution in the US.
