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Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto
Signatures of planets and of planet formation in debris disks

Mark Wyatt
Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge

Abstract
More than 700 nearby stars are known to have orbiting extrasolar planets, and a similar number are known to have orbiting debris, i.e., dust, asteroids and comets. Just as in the Solar System, observations of extrasolar debris disks provide unique information on the structure, formation and evolution of the planetary systems in which they reside. They have even been used to predict the presence of unseen planets that have later been confirmed through direct imaging. As the numbers of systems found to have both extrasolar planets and debris disks grows, the connection between these two phenomena is becoming clearer. In this talk I will describe the ways in which planets, and the process by which they form, leave their signatures in observations of debris disks. I will also discuss what we have learnt about what's around nearby stars from studies of their debris disks, including results from DEBRIS, a key programme currently underway using the Herschel Space Observatory to search for cold dust emission toward the nearest ~450 stars.

4 July 2012, 11:00

Centro de Astrofísica
Rua das Estrelas
4150-762 Porto

Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences

Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences (IA) is a new but long anticipated research infrastructure with a national dimension. It embodies a bold but feasible vision for the development of Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space Sciences in Portugal, taking full advantage and fully realizing the potential created by the national membership of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Southern Observatory (ESO). IA resulted from the merging the two most prominent research units in the field in Portugal: the Centre for Astrophysics of the University of Porto (CAUP) and the Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics of the University of Lisbon (CAAUL). It currently hosts more than two-thirds of all active researchers working in Space Sciences in Portugal, and is responsible for an even greater fraction of the national productivity in international ISI journals in the area of Space Sciences. This is the scientific area with the highest relative impact factor (1.65 times above the international average) and the field with the highest average number of citations per article for Portugal.

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