Related papers: Finding New Debris Discs at Sub-millimetre Wavelen…
The study of the last stages of planet formation, also known as debris disks, is fundamental to place constrains on the formation of planetary sized bodies. Debris disks are composed of dust and occasionally small amounts of gas, both…
Observations of debris disks offer a window into the physical and dynamical properties of planetesimals in extrasolar systems through the size distribution of dust grains. In particular, the millimeter spectral index of thermal dust…
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…
The coldest and densest structures of gas and dust in the Universe have unique spectral signatures across the (sub-)millimetre bands ($\nu \approx 30-950$~GHz). The current generation of single dish facilities has given a glimpse of the…
Dusty debris disks around main-sequence stars are signposts for the existence of planetesimals and exoplanets. From cross-correlating \hip stars with the \iras catalogs, we identify 146 stars within 120 pc of Earth that show excess emission…
We investigate the possibility to detect giant planets that are still embedded in young circumstellar disks. Based on models with different stellar, planetary, and disk masses, and different radial positions of the planet we analyze the…
Debris discs around main sequence stars have been extensively characterised from infrared to millimetre wavelengths through imaging, spectroscopic, and total intensity (scattered light and/or thermal emission) measurements. Polarimetric…
Dust in debris disks is generated by collisions among planetesimals. The existence of these planetesimals is a consequence of the planet formation process, but the relationship between debris disks and planets has not been clearly…
The study of transient and variable events, including novae, active galactic nuclei, and black hole binaries, has historically been a fruitful path for elucidating the evolutionary mechanisms of our universe. The study of such events in the…
We still do not understand how planets form, or why extra-solar planetary systems are so different from our own solar system. But the last few years have dramatically changed our view of the discs of gas and dust around young stars.…
Debris disks are exoplanetary systems containing planets, minor bodies (such as asteroids and comets) and debris dust. Unseen planets are presumed to perturb the minor bodies into crossing orbits, generating small dust grains that are…
Extreme adaptive optics instruments have revealed exquisite details on debris discs, allowing to extract the optical properties of the dust particles such as the phase function, the degree of polarisation and the spectral reflectance. These…
'Debris disks' are collections of small bodies around stars, such as the Asteroid Belt and Kuiper Belt in our Solar System. These disks are composed of objects smaller than planets, including asteroids, comets, dust, and dwarf planets. We…
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…
We have gathered a sample of 112 main-sequence stars with known debris disks. We collected published information and performed adaptive optics observations at Lick Observatory to determine if these debris disks are associated with binary or…
Extreme debris discs (EDDs) are bright and warm circumstellar dusty structures around main sequence stars. They may represent the outcome of giant collisions occuring in the terrestrial region between large planetesimals or planetary…
Observations of debris disks, the products of the collisional evolution of rocky planetesimals, can be used to trace planetary activity across a wide range of stellar types. The most common end points of stellar evolution are no exception…
The study of planets and small bodies within our Solar System is fundamental for understanding the formation and evolution the Earth and other planets. Compositional and meteorological studies of the giant planets provide a foundation for…
High-contrast imaging of debris disk systems permits us to assess the composition and size distribution of circumstellar dust, to probe recent dynamical histories, and to directly detect and characterize embedded exoplanets. Observations of…
The dust disks observed around mature stars are evidence that plantesimals are present in these systems on spatial scales that are similar to that of the asteroids and the KBOs in the Solar System. These dust disks (a.k.a. ``debris disks'')…