exoALMA
a search for the youngest exoplanets
exoALMA is conducting the first planet hunting campaign in the sub-mm regime - the first to focus on still-forming planets.
By leveraging the unparalleled spatial and spectral resolution of the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the exoALMA program is searching for still-forming planets embedded in their parental protoplanetary disks through their influence on the dynamics of the surround gas. To this end, exoALMA will focus on 15 sources, taking some of the deepest and most sensitive images of these planet forming nurseries to transform our understanding of how planetary systems can form. The figure below shows the current state of exoplanet demographics, and highlights the region in which exoALMA will be most transformative.
Gray points show mature planets detected through typical means, while blue points highlight exoplanets, both confirmed and candidates, detected through sub-mm observations. Circles with dots represent planets detected through continuum substructures, while stars show planets inferred through kinematic means. Larger symbols denote the confirmed exoplanets: PDS 70b and PDS 70c, HD 97048b and HD 163296b. From Pinte et al. (2022).