Related papers: A second planetesimal collision in the Fomalhaut s…
We use a multiannulus planetesimal accretion code to investigate the growth of icy planets in the outer regions of a planetesimal disk. In a quiescent minimum mass solar nebula, icy planets grow to sizes of 1000--3000 km on a timescale t =…
The early stages of planet formation are still not well understood. Coagulation models have revealed numerous obstacles to the dust growth, such as the bouncing, fragmentation and radial drift barriers. We study the interplay between dust…
Many debris disks seen in scattered light have shapes that imply their dust grains trace highly eccentric, apsidally aligned orbits. Apsidal alignment is surprising, especially for dust. Even when born from an apse-aligned ring of parent…
In the last years several exoplanets have been discovered that orbit one component of a compact binary system (separation < 50 astronomical units), the probably best-known case is gamma-Cephei. So far, all attempts to explain the in-situ…
We report a new and complete model of the beta Pictoris disk, which succeeds in accounting for both the surface brightness distribution, warp characteristics, the outer ``butterfly'' asymmetry as observed by HST/STIS in scattered light, as…
In laboratory experiments we determine the mass gain and loss in central collisions between cm to dm-size SiO2 dust targets and sub-mm to cm-size SiO2 dust projectiles of varying mass, size, shape, and at different collision velocities up…
Recent ALMA observations present mounting evidence for the presence of exocometary gas released within Kuiper belt analogues around nearby main sequence stars. This represents a unique opportunity to study their ice reservoir at the younger…
The disintegrating planet candidate K2-22 b shows periodic and stochastic transits best explained by an escaping debris cloud. However, the mechanism that creates the debris cloud is unknown. The grain size of the debris as well as its…
Chemical and chronological information preserved in meteorites permits the reconstruction of events and processes in the solar nebula from the formation of the first solids to the accretion of planetary bodies and their subsequent…
Collisions of mm-size dust aggregates play a crucial role in the early phases of planet formation. We developed a laboratory setup to observe collisions of dust aggregates levitating at mbar pressures and elevated temperatures of 800 K. We…
Planetesimals or smaller bodies in protoplanetary disks are often considered to form as pebble piles in current planet formation models. They are supposed to be large but loose, weakly bound clusters of more robust dust aggregates. This…
This paper considers a simple model in which dust produced in a planetesimal belt migrates in toward the star due to P-R drag suffering destructive collisions with other dust grains on the way. Assuming the dust is all of the same size, the…
The consistency of planet formation models suffers from the disconnection between the regime of small and large bodies. This is primarily caused by so-called growth barriers: the direct growth of larger bodies is halted at centimetre-sized…
A significant fraction of the mature FGK stars have cool dusty disks at least an orders of magnitudes brighter than the solar system's outer zodiacal light. Since such dusts must be continually replenished, they are generally assumed to be…
Previous X-ray and optical studies of the galaxy cluster pair Abell 222/223 suggested the possible presence of a filamentary structure connecting the two clusters, a result that appears to be supported by subsequent weak-lensing analyses.…
We construct a speculative scenario for the evolution of Wolf-Rayet central stars of planetary nebula. It is clear from the latest infra-red observations that a new perspective has to be adopted: the simultaneous presence of carbon- and…
The dynamical evolution of planetary systems leaves observable signatures in debris disks. Optical images trace micron-sized grains, which are strongly affected by stellar radiation and need not coincide with their parent body population.…
We present BIMA and SCUBA observations of the young cluster associated with BD +40 4124 in the dense molecular gas tracer CS J=2-1 and the continuum dust continuum at 3.1 mm and 850 micron. The dense gas and dust in the system is aligned…
The discovery of the intact minor planet embedded in the debris disc orbiting SDSS J1228+1040 raises questions about the dynamical history of the system. Further, the recent passage of the potentially interstellar object 1I/'Oumuamua within…
The nearby main sequence star Beta Pictoris is surrounded by an edge-on disk of dust produced by the collisional erosion of larger planetesimals. Here we report the discovery of substructure within the northeast extension of the disk…