Related papers: A statistically significant lack of debris discs i…
Debris disks are optically thin, almost gas-free dusty disks observed around a significant fraction of main-sequence stars older than about 10 Myr. Since the circumstellar dust is short-lived, the very existence of these disks is considered…
Some short-period, detached binary systems have recently been reported to experience very rapid orbital decay, much faster than is expected from the angular-momentum loss caused by gravitational radiation alone. As these systems contain…
A decade of surveys has hinted at a possible higher occurrence rate of debris discs in systems hosting low mass planets. This could be due to common favourable forming conditions for rocky planets close in and planetesimals at large radii.…
The impact of stellar multiplicity on the evolution of planet-forming disks is still the subject of debate. Here we present and analyze disk structures around ten multiple stellar systems that were included in an unbiased, high spatial…
We present preliminary results of a detailed chemical abundance analysis for a sample of solar-type stars known to exhibit excess infrared emission associated with dusty debris disks. Our sample of 28 stars was selected based on results…
We present the results of a high-resolution imaging survey of 12 brown dwarfs and very low mass stars in the closest (~145 pc) young (~5 Myr) OB association, Upper Scorpius. We obtained images with the Advanced Camera for Surveys/High…
Debris discs are typically revealed through excess emission at infrared wavelengths. Most discs exhibit excess at mid- and far-infrared wavelengths, analogous to the solar system's Asteroid and Edgeworth-Kuiper belts. Recently, stars with…
We have searched for infrared excesses around a well defined sample of 69 FGK main-sequence field stars. These stars were selected without regard to their age, metallicity, or any previous detection of IR excess; they have a median age of…
Spatially resolved scattered-light images of circumstellar (CS) debris in exoplanetary systems constrain the physical properties and orbits of the dust particles in these systems. They also inform on co-orbiting (but unseen) planets,…
[Abridged] The study of disc kinematics has recently opened up as a promising method to detect unseen planets. However, a systematic, statistically meaningful analysis of such an approach remains missing. The aim of this work is to devise…
Small planets ($R_{p} \leq 4 R_{\oplus}$) are divided into rocky super-Earths and gaseous sub-Neptunes separated by a radius gap, but the mechanisms that produce these distinct planet populations remain unclear. Binary stars are the only…
Recent exo-planetary surveys reveal that planets can orbit and survive around binary stars. This suggests that some fraction of young binary systems which possess massive circumbinary disks (CB) may be in the midst of planet formation.…
Determination of the composition and size distribution of dust grains in debris discs is strongly dependent on constraining the underlying spatial distribution of that dust through multi-wavelength, spatially resolved imaging spanning…
The number of stars that are known to have debris disks is greater than that of stars known to harbour planets. These disks are detected because dust is created in the destruction of planetesimals in the disks much in the same way that dust…
Dusty debris discs around main sequence stars are thought to be the result of continuous collisional grinding of planetesimals in the system. The majority of these systems are unresolved and analysis of the dust properties is limited by the…
"Debris disks" around young stars (analogues of the Kuiper Belt in our Solar System) show a variety of non-trivial structures attributed to planetary perturbations and used to constrain the properties of the planets. However, these analyses…
[Abridged] Debris discs around main-sequence stars indicate the presence of larger rocky bodies. The components of the nearby binary aCentauri have higher than solar metallicities, which is thought to promote giant planet formation. We aim…
Observations of systems hosting close in ($<1$ AU) giant planets and brown dwarfs ($M\gtrsim7$ M$_{\rm Jup}$) find an excess of binary star companions, indicating that stellar multiplicity may play an important role in their formation.…
Binary star systems are assumed to be co-natal and coeval, thus to have identical chemical composition. In this work we aim to test the hypothesis that there is a connection between observed element abundance patterns and the formation of…
Debris disks are the dust disks found around ~20% of nearby main sequence stars in far-IR surveys. They can be considered as descendants of protoplanetary disks or components of planetary systems, providing valuable information on…