Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 1997
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997hst..prop.7441b&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #7441
Physics
Hst Proposal Id #7441 Cool Stars
Scientific paper
Dust particles around a main sequence star are quickly removed by Poynting-Robertson drag, therefore the existence of such dust is an almost certain signature of a current presence of a population of larger bodies in orbit around the star. Around the sun, dust appears to be confined to the inner solar system, where a belt of zodiacal dust is replenished by collisions between asteroids and the outgassing of comets. Observations of dust in the inner regions of nearby stellar systems would allow us to infer the presence of such bodies and possibly a planetary system around those stars. Little is currently known about dust within about 5 AU of main sequence stars: observations of IRAS excess emissions and groundbased coronographic observations of scattered light from dust are both sensitive chiefly to dust much further from the central star. We therefore propose a NICMOS coronographic survey of bright nearby stars in order to begin to characterize the zodiacal dust environments in nearby main sequence stars. This survey should be sensitive to optical depths of dust an order of magnitude greater than that known to exist around the sun, providing the first good limits on these dust populations and the small orbiting bodies from which they come.
No associations
LandOfFree
A Search for Zodiacal Dust around Bright Nearby Stars does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with A Search for Zodiacal Dust around Bright Nearby Stars, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and A Search for Zodiacal Dust around Bright Nearby Stars will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-895697