Related papers: Dust in the Jupiter system outside the rings
The spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of some T Tauri stars display a deficit of near-IR flux that could be a consequence of an embedded Jupiter-mass planet partially clearing an inner hole in the circumstellar disc. Here, we use…
Uranus and Saturn share similarities in terms of their atmospheric composition, which is primarily made up of hydrogen and helium, as well as their ring systems. Uranus has 13 known rings, which are divided into narrow main rings, dusty…
The small satellites of the Pluto system (Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra) have very low surface escape velocities, and impacts should therefore eject a large amount of material from their surfaces. We show that most of this material then…
The inner Solar System contains a cloud of small (1-100 micron) dust grains created when small bodies-asteroids, comets, and Kuiper belt objects-collide and outgas. This dust cloud, the zodiacal cloud probably has extrasolar analogs,…
When viewed from Earth, most of what we observe of a comet is dust. The influence of solar radiation pressure on the trajectories of dust particles depends on their cross-section to mass ratio. Hence solar radiation pressure acts like a…
The discovery of Jupiter-mass planets in close orbits about their parent stars has challenged models of planet formation. Recent observations have shown that a number of these planets have highly inclined, sometimes retrograde orbits about…
Observations of the Jovian upper atmosphere at high latitudes in the UV, IR and mm/sub-mm all indicate that the chemical distributions and thermal structure are broadly influenced by auroral particle precipitations. Mid-IR and UV…
Radial velocity surveys suggest that the Solar System may be unusual and that Jupiter-like planets have a frequency <20% around solar-type stars. However, they may be much more common in one of the closest associations in the solar…
Ultra-hot Jupiters, an extreme class of planets not found in our solar system, provide a unique window into atmospheric processes. The extreme temperature contrasts between their day- and night-sides pose a fundamental climate puzzle: how…
Recent high-spatial-resolution observations have revealed dust substructures in protoplanetary disks such as rings and gaps, which do not always correlate with gas. Because radial gas flow induced by low-mass, non-gas-gap-opening planets…
Clouds form on extrasolar planets and brown dwarfs where lightning could occur. Lightning is a tracer of atmospheric convection, cloud formation and ionization processes as known from the Solar System, and may be significant for the…
In addition to planets and other small bodies, stellar systems will likely also host exozodiacal dust, or exozodi. This warm dust primarily resides in or near the habitable zone of a star, and scatters stellar light in visible to NIR…
Of the 97 known satellites in the Jovian system, the individual masses and densities of each moon have only been determined for six of them: the four Galileans, Amalthea, and Himalia. In this letter, we derive a prediction for the mean…
White dwarfs with metal pollution are caused by the accretion of rocky dust from tidally disrupted minor bodies and are signposts for planetary systems. These minor bodies are perturbed by planets that have survived post-main sequence…
H$_3^+$ emission is the dominant cooling mechanism in Jupiter's thermosphere and a useful probe of temperature and ion densities. The H$_3^+$ ion is predicted to form in the thermospheres of close-in `hot Jupiters' where its emission would…
Galactic interstellar dust (ISD) is the major ingredient in planetary formation. However, information on this important material has been extremely limited. Recently the Ulysses dust detector has identified and measured interstellar dust…
The zodiacal light is a night-glow mostly visible along the plane of the ecliptic. It represents the background radiation associated with solar light scattered by the tenuous flattened interplanetary cloud of dust particles surrounding the…
We present a new search for dark matter using planetary atmospheres. We point out that annihilating dark matter in planets can produce ionizing radiation, which can lead to excess production of ionospheric $H_3^+$. We apply this search…
In the Solar System, interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) originating mainly from asteroid collisions and cometary activities drift to the Earth orbit due to the Poynting-Robertson drag. We analyzed the thermal emission from IDPs that was…
Nine lectures reviewing the astrophysics of dust in interstellar clouds. Topics include: (1) Summary of observational evidence concerning interstellar dust: broadband extinction, scattering of starlight, polarization of starlight,…