Astro-Seminar: Meredith Hughes - Gas and Dust in Debris Disks: Stellar Masses and Multiwavelength Structure

Friday, 10 July 2026 at 14:00

Astrophysics seminar as part of the seminar series occurring every Wednesday at 14:00 during term time. Organised by Till Kaeufer, Vito Squicciarini, Nils de Vries. Contact: Astro-Seminar-Organiser@exeter.ac.uk

Event details

Abstract: 

Debris disks are more massive analogs of our Solar System's Kuiper Belt observed around nearby stars, revealing the final assembly stages of planetary systems.  Thanks to the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), we have now amassed a wealth of data on both gas and dust structures in debris disks.  During this presentation, I will discuss two sets of recent results: (1) A uniform analysis of all the known gas-bearing debris disks, which reveals dynamical stellar masses that are significantly lower than those inferred from photospheric properties.  Also, (2) multiwavelength measurements of the structure of debris belts, showing that dust populations are relatively consistent with radius, and suggesting possible variations in vertical structure with frequency that provide insight into the physics of the collisional cascade. 

Organiser

Astrophysics

Location

Fourth floor interaction area, Physics Building, Streatham Campus