Sunset over an observatory ridge in Chile

Dr. Gabriele Cugno

I study how planets and moons form using the world's most advanced telescopes.

I am a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Astrophysics at the University of Zürich. I observe newborn giant planets and the disks that surround them, combining JWST with powerful ground-based telescopes to understand how planets grow and how moon systems begin.

Current highlights

Community

Circumplanetary Disks in the JWST Era

I co-lead an ISSI International Team bringing observers and theorists together to shape the next phase of CPD research.

Explore the ISSI team

New paper · 2026

Searching for protoplanets with JWST/MIRI

Our MIRI survey shows that protoplanets remain elusive even at long wavelengths, while some planet-forming disks are detected.

Read the paper

Research

I study how planets and moons form by combining high-contrast imaging, infrared spectroscopy, and advanced data analysis tools on facilities such as JWST, ALMA, the VLT, and soon the ELT. My work focuses on three tightly connected themes:

The PDS 70 system, showing two forming planets inside a circumstellar disk Image: Blakely et al. (2024)

Protoplanets

I search for young, still-forming giant planets embedded in their natal disks and characterise their light from optical to mid-infrared wavelengths. These observations reveal how bright planets glow, how quickly they are growing, and how they interact with their natal environment.

The structured AS 209 disk and the path of a background star across its outer gap Figure: Cugno et al. (2025)

Circumstellar disks

I study the broad disks around young stars, where planets take shape and carve rings, gaps, and spirals. With optical images and a new technique that uses background stars as probes, I map the material in these disks and investigate how it shapes, and sometimes hides, newborn planets.

Selected publications

Here you can find a selected list of refereed publications that I contributed to.

G. Cugno, S. Facchini, F. Alarcon, et al.; 2025, The Astronomical Journal, in press, Direct Measurement of Extinction in a Planet-Hosting Gap; G. Cugno & S. L. Grant; 2025, The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 991, 46, A carbon-rich disk surrounding a planetary-mass companion; G. Cugno, P. Patapis, A. Banzatti, et al.; 2025, The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 966, 21, Mid-infrared Spectrum of the Disk around the Forming Companion GQ Lup B Revealed by JWST/MIRI; G. Cugno, Y. Zhou, T. Thanathibodee, et al.; 2024, The Astronomical Journal, 166, 162, MagAO-X and HST High-contrast Imaging of the AS209 Disk at Hα J. Hayoz, G. Cugno, S. Quanz, et al.; 2023, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 678, 178, CROCODILE. Incorporating medium-resolution spectroscopy of close-in directly imaged exoplanets into atmospheric retrievals via cross-correlation G. Cugno, T. Pearce, R. Launhardt, M. Bonse, et al.; 2023, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 699, 145, ISPY-NACO Imaging Survey for Planets around Young stars. The demographics of forming planets embedded in protoplanetary disks G. Cugno, P. Patapis, T. Stolker, S. P. Quanz, et al.; 2021, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 653, 12, Molecular mapping of the PDS70 system. No molecular absorption signatures from the forming planet PDS70b T. Stolker, G. -D. Marleau, G. Cugno, P. Mollière, et al.; 2020, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 644, 13, MIRACLES: atmospheric characterization of directly imaged planets and substellar companions at 4-5 μm. II. Constraints on the mass and radius of the enshrouded planet PDS 70 b A. Zurlo, G. Cugno, M. Montesinos, S. Perez, et al.; 2020, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 633, 119, The widest Hα survey of accreting protoplanets around nearby transition disks A. Musso Barcucci, G. Cugno, R. Launhardt, A. Müller, et al.; 2019, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 631, 84, Detection of Hα emission from PZ Telescopii B using SPHERE/ZIMPOL G. Cugno, S.P. Quanz, R. Launhardt, A. Musso Barcucci, et al.; 2019, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 624, 29, ISPY - NaCo Imaging Survey for Planets around Young stars. A young companion candidate embedded in the R CrA cloud G. Cugno, S. P. Quanz, S. Hunziker, T. Stolker et al.; 2019, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 622, 156, A search for accreting young companions embedded in circumstellar disks. High-contrast Hα imaging with VLT/SPHERE


Selected presentations

Here you can find a selected list of talks and seminars that I presented (★ means invited contribution).

★A sharper view: celebrating 3 years of JWST observations of planet-forming disks, Ringberg, Germany, Planets and their disks in the mid-infrared: from coronagraphic imaging to MRS spectroscopy Disk and Planets across ESO facilities, Garching, Germany, Planet formation in the thermal infrared: from the VLT to METIS on the ELT Great Lakes Exoplanet Area Meeting, Columbus, Ohio, USA, A new forming planet candidate challenging core accretion In the Spirit of Lyot, Leiden, Netherlands, Revealing the population of forming giant planets Exoplanets IV, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, Constraining the population forming giant planets with the NaCo-ISPY survey ★RISTRETTO meets PlanetS Workshop, Geneva, Switzerland (virtual), Hunting for accreting young gas giant planets Exoplanets III, Heidelberg, Germany (virtual), Unveiling the nature of PDS70b Great Barriers in Planet Formation, Palm Cove, Australia, Hunting for forming gas giant planets Exoplanets II, Cambridge, UK, Hunting for accreting gas giant planets

Contact Me

Feel free to reach out through the form below if you have a question. I look forward to answering you!