Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2005-03-24
Astron.J.130:269-279,2005
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Astronomical Journal, in press; 23 pages of text, 11 figures, and 1 table
Scientific paper
10.1086/430461
We investigate the prospects for detecting dust from two body collisions during the late stages of planet formation at 1-150 AU. We develop an analytic model to describe the formation of a dusty cloud of debris and use numerical coagulation and n-body calculations to predict observable signals from these events. In a minimum mass solar nebula, collisions of 100-1000 km objects at distances of 3-5 AU or less from the parent star are observable at mid-infrared wavelengths as bright clumps or rings of dust. At 24 microns, the clumps are roughly 0.1-1 mag brighter than emission from dust in the background debris disk. In edge-on systems, dusty clumps produce eclipses with depths of 1.0 mag or less that last for roughly 100 orbital periods. Large-scale surveys for transits from exosolar planets, such as Kepler, can plausibly detect these eclipses and provide important constraints on the terrestrial environment for ages of less than or roughly 100-300 Myr.
Bromley Benjamin C.
Kenyon Scott. J.
No associations
LandOfFree
Prospects for Detection of Catastrophic Collisions in Debris Disks 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 Prospects for Detection of Catastrophic Collisions in Debris Disks, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Prospects for Detection of Catastrophic Collisions in Debris Disks will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-587328