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Abstract
Rings of "space debris" are seen around nearby stars, resulting from the collisions of extrasolar comets. These rings are in fact the brightest aspect of another stellar system after the star itself, with the collisionally generated dust emitting strongly in the far-infrared and submillimetre. Here I investigate what images of such debris tell us about the scale and contents of other planetary systems, and consider questions such as: why similar stars have widely varying comet populations; whether the solar system is unusually "clean"; and the implications of this for life on Earth. The search for planetary disturbances of dust rings is also discussed as a method for the detection of exoplanets on distant orbits. The future holds bright prospects - not just for further discoveries of such "exo-Neptunes", but also for fundamental understanding of the conditions for producing extrasolar analogues to the solar system.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 21-24 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Experimental Astronomy |
Volume | 47 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Oct 2006 |
Keywords
- SUBMILLIMETER CAMERA
- EPSILON ERIDANI
- BETA-PICTORIS
- KUIPER-BELT
- STARS
- DUST
- TELESCOPE
- DISCS
- SYSTEM
- DISKS
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Dive into the research topics of 'Space debris and planet detection'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 1 Finished
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Astrophysics at St Andrews: Astrophysics at St.Andrews
Cameron, A. C. (PI) & Horne, K. D. (CoI)
1/04/06 → 31/03/11
Project: Standard