Related papers: The Pseudo-zodi Problem for Edge-on Planetary Syst…
Transitional and pre--transitional disks can be explained by a number of mechanisms. This work aims to find a single observationally detectable marker that would imply a planetary origin for the gap and, therefore, indirectly indicate the…
The zodiacal light is the dominant source of the mid-infrared sky brightness seen from Earth, and exozodiacal light is the dominant emission from planetary and debris systems around other stars. We observed the zodiacal light spectrum with…
There are many indications that anthropogenic global warming poses a serious threat to our civilization and its ecological support systems. Ideally this problem will be overcome by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Various space-based…
We present high resolution BV images of 12 edge-on spiral galaxies observed with the WIYN 3.5-m telescope. These images were obtained to search for extraplanar (|z| > 0.4 kpc) absorbing dust structures similar to those previously found in…
The Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI) enables nulling interferometric observations across the N band (8 to 13 um) to suppress a star's bright light and probe for faint circumstellar emission. We present and statistically…
(Abridged) Out-of-the-ecliptic trajectories that are beneficial to space observatories such as the Terrestrial Planet Finder and other potential mid-IR missions are introduced. These novel trajectories result in significantly reduced…
Extensive photometric stellar surveys show that many main sequence stars show emission at infrared and longer wavelengths that is in excess of the stellar photosphere; this emission is thought to arise from circumstellar dust. The presence…
The zodiacal cloud is a thick circumsolar disk of small debris particles produced by asteroid collisions and comets. Here, we present a zodiacal cloud model based on the orbital properties and lifetimes of comets and asteroids, and on the…
We present the first characterisation of the 12um warm dust ("exo-Zodi") luminosity function around Sun-like stars, focussing on the dustiest systems that can be identified by WISE. We detect six new warm dust candidates, five of which have…
The location of surface brightness maxima (e.g. apocentre and pericentre glow) in eccentric debris discs are often used to infer the underlying orbits of the dust and planetesimals that comprise the disc. However, there is a misconception…
Out of the known transiting extrasolar planets, the majority are gas giants orbiting their host star at close proximity. Both theoretical and observational studies support the hypothesis that such bodies emit significant amounts of flux…
The long-lived spots caused by the impact of fragments of Comet S-L 9 on Jupiter can be understood if clouds of dust are produced by the impact. These clouds reside in the stratosphere, where they absorb visible light that would ordinarily…
We reanalyze the Imaging Photopolarimeter data from Pioneer 10 to study the zodiacal light in the B and R bands beyond Earth orbit, applying an improved method to subtract integrated star light (ISL) and diffuse Galactic light (DGL). We…
Measurements by dust detectors on interplanetary spacecraft appear to indicate a substantial flux of interstellar particles with masses exceeding 10^{-12}gram. The reported abundance of these massive grains cannot be typical of interstellar…
The azimuthal substructure observed in some debris disks, as exemplified by epsilon Eridani, is usually attributed to resonances with embedded planets. In a standard scenario, the Poynting-Robertson force, possibly enhanced by the stellar…
It is becoming clear that the atmospheres of the young, self-luminous extrasolar giant planets imaged to date are dusty. Planets with dusty atmospheres may exhibit detectable amounts of linear polarization in the near-infrared, as has been…
This study investigates the origin of interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) through the optical properties, albedo and spectral gradient, of zodiacal light. The optical properties were compared with those of potential parent bodies in the…
Close-in extrasolar giant planets may be directly detectable by their reflected light, due to the proximity of the planet to the illuminating star. The spectrum of the system will contain a reflected light component that varies in amplitude…
Vega has been shown to host multiple dust populations, including both hot exo-zodiacal dust at sub-AU radii and a cold debris disk extending beyond 100 AU. We use dynamical simulations to show how Vega's hot dust can be created by…
Cold outer debris belts orbit a significant fraction of stars, many of which are planet-hosts. Radiative forces from the star lead to dust particles leaving the outer belts and spiralling inwards under Poynting-Robertson drag. We present an…