Debris Disks and the Formation of Terrestrial and Icy Planets
First Author:
Thayne Currie
Email: tcurrie AT cfa.harvard.edu
Harvard-Smithsonian CfA
60 Garden St., MS-16
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
Abstract
I discuss new insights into the time history of terrestrial and icy planet formation provided by recent Spitzer observations of debris disks surrounding stars in h and chi Persei, Orion OB1, NGC 2547, and other 5--35 Myr-old clusters/associations. I present new statistical trends in the frequency of terrestrial and icy planet formation as a function of age and stellar properties and a possible, new evolutionary link between primordial disks and debris disks. I also consider the evolution of debris emission from icy planet formation. By relating these observed trends to predictions from theoretical models of planet formation, I describe how this evolution provides evidence for the growth of lunar to Mars-sized oligarchs from smaller planetesimals. Finally, I discuss challenges that these results pose for models of planet formation and their ability to explain observed exoplanet trends.
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