When
3:30 p.m., Feb. 17, 2009
Where
Kuiper Space Sciences Building 308
Professor George Rieke from Steward Observatory is the scheduled speaker.
Planetary debris disks are our best tool for probing planet system evolution after the protoplanetary disk stage. The Spitzer telescope has revealed about 300 debris disks around nearby stars and hundreds more in young clusters. The overall pattern of evolution of these disks is similar to that deduced for the early evolution of the Solar System. However, only about 1% of the disks in the 30 - 120 Myr age range have the levels of debris that were probably produced in the collision that led to the formation of our Moon, implying that such events are rare. A number of systems, including two that are in the 2 - 4 GYr age range, have characteristics that imply they are the sites of either recent substantial asteroid collisions or of a high level of stirring in their asteroid belts. Although the Spitzer cold mission will soon come to an end, this field of study will continue to flourish with new observations with Herschel and particularly with JWST.
Refreshments will be served at 3:15p.m. in the north corner of the atrium
Planetary debris disks are our best tool for probing planet system evolution after the protoplanetary disk stage. The Spitzer telescope has revealed about 300 debris disks around nearby stars and hundreds more in young clusters. The overall pattern of evolution of these disks is similar to that deduced for the early evolution of the Solar System. However, only about 1% of the disks in the 30 - 120 Myr age range have the levels of debris that were probably produced in the collision that led to the formation of our Moon, implying that such events are rare. A number of systems, including two that are in the 2 - 4 GYr age range, have characteristics that imply they are the sites of either recent substantial asteroid collisions or of a high level of stirring in their asteroid belts. Although the Spitzer cold mission will soon come to an end, this field of study will continue to flourish with new observations with Herschel and particularly with JWST.
Refreshments will be served at 3:15p.m. in the north corner of the atrium
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