Target selection for the SUNS and DEBRIS surveys for debris discs in the solar neighbourhood

TL;DR

This paper discusses the target selection process for two major surveys, SUNS and DEBRIS, aimed at detecting and studying debris discs around nearby stars using Herschel and SCUBA-2.

Contribution

It details the methodology for selecting targets to optimize the discovery and analysis of debris discs in the solar neighborhood.

Findings

Target lists for SUNS and DEBRIS surveys are presented.

Selection criteria enhance detection efficiency of debris discs.

Surveys will explore cooler and previously undetected debris discs.

Abstract

Debris discs - analogous to the Asteroid and Kuiper-Edgeworth belts in the Solar system - have so far mostly been identified and studied in thermal emission shortward of 100 um. The Herschel space observatory and the SCUBA-2 camera on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope will allow efficient photometric surveying at 70 to 850 um, which allow for the detection of cooler discs not yet discovered, and the measurement of disc masses and temperatures when combined with shorter wavelength photometry. The SCUBA-2 Unbiased Nearby Stars (SUNS) survey and the DEBRIS Herschel Open Time Key Project are complimentary legacy surveys observing samples of ~500 nearby stellar systems. To maximise the legacy value of these surveys, great care has gone into the target selection process. This paper describes the target selection process and presents the target lists of these two surveys.