Related papers: Formation and Collisional Evolution of Kuiper Belt…
As hundreds of gas giant planets have been discovered, we study how these planets form and evolve in different stellar environments, specifically in multiple stellar systems. In such systems, stellar companions may have a profound influence…
The spin axis of a rotationally deformed planet is forced to precess about its orbital angular momentum vector, due to the tidal gravity of its host star, if these directions are misaligned. This induces internal fluid motions inside the…
Tidal friction is thought to be important in determining the long-term spin-orbit evolution of short-period extrasolar planetary systems. Using a simple model of the orbit-averaged effects of tidal friction, we study the evolution of…
The evolution of circumbinary discs and planets is often studied using two-dimensional (2D) numerical simulations, although recent work suggests that 3D effects may significantly alter the structure of the inner cavity created by the…
Extrasolar debris disks are the dust disks found around nearby main sequence stars arising from the break-up of asteroids and comets orbiting the stars. Far-IR surveys (e.g., with Herschel) showed that ~20% of stars host detectable dust…
Any population of asteroids, like asteroid families, will disperse in semi-major axis due to the Yarkovsky effect. The amount of drift is modulated by the asteroid spin state evolution which determines the balance between the diurnal and…
In this chapter, we review the processes involved in the formation of planetesimals and comets. We will start with a description of the physics of dust grain growth and how this is mediated by gas-dust interactions in planet-forming disks.…
We have investigated effects of early stellar encounters on a protoplanetary disk (planetesimal disk) and found that they can explain the high eccentricities and inclinations observed in the outer part ($>42$AU) of the Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt…
Aims. We investigate the feasibility of planetesimal growth in circumbinary protoplanetary disks around the observed systems Kepler- 16 and Kepler-34 under the gravitational influence of a precessing eccentric gas disk. Methods. We embed…
When a main sequence star evolves into a red giant and its Kuiper Belt Object's (KBO's) reach a temperature of about 170 K, the dust released during the rapid ice-sublimation of these cometary bodies may lead to a detectable infrared excess…
There are several observational campaigns under way to detect kilometer size foreground Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) through their occultation of background stars. The interpretation of an occultation light curve, unfortunately, is affected…
A fundamental issue in star formation is understanding the precise mechanisms leading to the formation of prestellar cores, and their subsequent gravitationally unstable evolution. To address this question, we carefully construct a suite of…
Many debris discs reveal a two-component structure, with an outer Kuiper-belt analogue and a warm inner component whose origin is still a matter of debate. One possibility is that warm emission stems from an "asteroid belt" closer in to the…
We describe new planetesimal accretion calculations in the Kuiper Belt that include fragmentation and velocity evolution. All models produce two power law cumulative size distributions, N_C propto r^{-q}, with q = 2.5 for radii less than…
This paper presents an analytical model for collision probability assessments between de-orbiting or injecting space objects and satellite constellations. Considering the first to be subjected to a continuous tangential acceleration, its…
Protostellar binaries harbour complex environment morphologies. Observations represent a snapshot in time, and projection and optical depth effects impair our ability to interpret them. Careful comparison with high-resolution models that…
The formation of planets in compact or highly eccentric binaries and the migration of hot Jupiters are two outstanding problems in planet formation. The hot Jupiter $\tau$ Boo Ab orbits the primary star in the long-period ($P \gtrsim…
The Trojan asteroids provide a unique perspective on the history of Solar System. As a large population of small bodies, they record important gravitational interactions and dynamical evolution of the Solar System. In the past decade,…
As a test bed for the growth of protoplanetary bodies in a turbulent circumstellar disk we examine the fate of a boulder using direct numerical simulations of particle seeded gas flowing around it. We provide an accurate description of the…
The early gas-dust solar nebula is considered: the gasdynamic theory is used to study the gravitational Jeans-type instability in its protoplanetary disk. The implications for the origin of the solar system are discussed. It is shown that a…