Related papers: Extrasolar Kuiper Belts
Debris disks are thought to be sculptured by neighboring planets. The same is true for the Edgeworth-Kuiper debris disk, yet no direct observational evidence for signatures of giant planets in the Kuiper belt dust distribution has been…
Using the MIPS instrument on the Spitzer telescope, we have searched for infrared excesses around a sample of 82 stars, mostly F, G, and K main-sequence field stars, along with a small number of nearby M stars. These stars were selected for…
Although photometric and spectroscopic surveys with the Spitzer Space Telescope increased remarkably the number of well studied debris disks around A-type and Sun-like stars, detailed analyzes of debris disks around F-type stars remained…
Proxima Centauri, the star closest to our Sun, is known to host at least one terrestrial planet candidate in a temperate orbit. Here we report the ALMA detection of the star at 1.3 mm wavelength and the discovery of a belt of dust orbiting…
We report the results of a spectroscopic search for debris disks surrounding 41 nearby solar type stars, including 8 planet-bearing stars, using the {\it Spitzer Space Telescope}. With accurate relative photometry using the Infrared…
Excess emission from a point-like source coincident with the central star of the Helix Nebula is detected with Spitzer at 8, 24, and 70 um. At 24 um, the central source is superposed on an extended diffuse emission region. While the [OIV]…
Circumstellar disks are an essential ingredient of the formation of low-mass stars. It is unclear, however, whether the accretion-disk paradigm can also account for the formation of stars more massive than about 10 solar masses, in which…
Star-formation in the outer Galaxy is thought to be different from the inner Galaxy, as it is subject to different environmental parameters such as metallicity, interstellar radiation field, or mass surface density that all change with…
This paper reviews the theory of protostellar debris disks. After a brief introduction to accretion disk physics, I describe coagulation models of planet formation in the outer regions of planetesimal disks. Coagulation models for the…
Dust plays a key role in the formation of planets and its emission also provides one of our most accessible views of protoplanetary discs. If set by radiative equilibrium with the central star, the temperature of dust in the disc plateaus…
We propose an ecliptic Deep Drilling Field that will discover some 10,000~small and faint Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) --- primitive rocky/icy bodies that orbit at the outside of our Solar System and uniquely record the processes of planetary…
The Kuiper Belt of our solar system is a source of short-period comets that may have delivered water and other volatiles to Earth and the other terrestrial planets. However, the distribution of water and other volatiles in extrasolar…
Debris disks are intimately linked to planetary system evolution since the rocky material surrounding the host stars is due to secondary generation from the collisions of planetesimals. With the conclusion and lack of future large scale…
Dust emission around the nearby star epsilon Eridani has been imaged using a new submillimetre camera (SCUBA at the JCMT). At 850 microns wavelength a ring of dust is seen, peaking at 60 AU from the star and with much lower emission inside…
Discs of dusty debris around main-sequence star indicate fragmentation of orbiting planetesimals, and for a few A-type stars, a gas component is also seen that may come from collisionally-released volatiles. Here we find the sixth example…
The spatially resolved AU Mic debris disc is among the most famous and best-studied debris discs. We aim at a comprehensive understanding of the dust production and the dynamics of the disc objects with in depth collisional modelling…
The imaging of disks around young stars presents extreme challenges in high dynamic range, angular resolution, and sensitivity. Recent instrumental advances have met these challenges admirably, leading to a marked increase in imaging…
The host stars of extrasolar planets tend to be metal-rich. We have examined the data for these stars for evidence of trends in other galactic parameters, without success. However, several ESP hosts are likely to be members of the thick…
Debris disk morphology is wavelength dependent due to the wide range of particle sizes and size-dependent dynamics influenced by various forces. Resolved images of nearby debris disks reveal complex disk structures that are difficult to…
Planetesimal formation likely lasted for millions of years in the solar nebula, and the cold classicals in the Kuiper Belt are suggested to be the direct products of streaming instability. The presence of minor planetary bodies in the outer…