Debris disks around main-sequence stars

TL;DR

Debris disks are common features around main-sequence stars, composed of small bodies like asteroids and dust, providing insights into planetary system formation and evolution.

Contribution

This chapter offers a comprehensive overview of debris disks, including detection methods, observed properties, evolution, and interactions with planets around main-sequence stars.

Findings

Debris disks are prevalent around many stars.

Observations reveal diverse shapes and features of debris disks.

Debris disks evolve over time and interact with planetary bodies.

Abstract

'Debris disks' are collections of small bodies around stars, such as the Asteroid Belt and Kuiper Belt in our Solar System. These disks are composed of objects smaller than planets, including asteroids, comets, dust, and dwarf planets. We detect debris disks around a significant fraction of stars, and these disks appear to be common components of planetary systems. Extrasolar debris disks have a broad range of locations, shapes and features. This chapter provides an introduction to debris disks around main-sequence stars. It summarises our understanding of the field, and covers a wide range of concepts from observations and theory. It describes how we detect extrasolar debris disks, what we see, and what these observations tell us. It also describes how debris disks evolve, and how they interact with planets. The chapter concludes by discussing several unsolved questions in debris-disk science.