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UID:UW-Physics-Event-2024
DTSTART:20101202T213000Z
DURATION:PT1H0M0S
DTSTAMP:20260415T211737Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20101124T135640Z
LOCATION:4421 Sterling Hall
SUMMARY:Explanetary Systems-What do they teach about the Solar System?
 \, Astronomy Colloquium\, George Rieke\, University of Arizona
DESCRIPTION:When we set out seriously to search for other planetary sy
 stems nearly two decades ago\, it seemed obvious that they would be an
 alogs to the Solar System. Some could possibly be abodes for life\, an
 d therefore would illuminate our past and future. Now we know of more 
 than 500 exoplanets\, but they represent an evolutionary end point com
 pletely foreign to us and perhaps in most cases hostile to the develop
 ment of sophisticated life. Is this a selection effect\, resulting fro
 m the bias of our two most successful search techniques toward massive
  planets close to their stars? A third approach\, study of planetary d
 ebris disks\, brings a countervailing bias toward planetesimal systems
  on large orbits. It has been equally successful with more than 300 sy
 stems known. They are marked by evidence for planetesimal belts analog
 ous to the Kuiper Belt and in some cases the asteroid belt. Their rese
 mblance to the Solar System lets us study them to constrain our models
  of how our system formed and evolved\; they are also signposts for th
 e detection of massive planets on orbits far from their stars. I will 
 describe the current knowledge of debris systems\, outlining evidence 
 for: 1.) a general decay of planet-building activity similar to that d
 educed for the Solar System\; 2.) occasional large collisions analogou
 s at least in destructive power to the one that led to the formation o
 f our moon\; 3.) the behavior of planetesimals near the ice line\, the
  possible sources of volatile gases on Earth\; and 4.) similarities an
 d differences of the outer planetesimal zones in other systems to our 
 Kuiper Belt. 
URL:https://www.physics.wisc.edu/events/?id=2024
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