Tracing the Lifecycle of Planetary Systems around stars (slightly) more massive than the Sun

John Debes

Hubble Science Briefing

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Unchanging Heavens?

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How do we study populations of stars?

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ESO

NASA/HST

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We are but Mayflies of the Milky Way…

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Stellar and Planetary Birth

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Ardila et al., 2007

HD 100546

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HD 100546

Ardila et al., 2007

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ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/Nienke van der Marel

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CO, H2O, dust

Disk structures, planets

Dust segregation

E J S N

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Planetary Adolescence

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NASA’s IRAS discovers the “Fabulous Four”, and launches the characterization of dusty stars

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Three of the Fabulous Four

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All A-type stars, two known to host planetary mass objects

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β Pictoris

10/2/14Smith & Terrile (1984)

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β Pictoris

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β Pictoris b

10/2/14Nielsen et al. (2014) Snellen et al. (2014)

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β Pictoris b—transiting planet?

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Lecavelier des Etangs et al. (1997)

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Planet Crashes at HD 172555

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Lisse et al. (2009)

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HR 4796A—Mysterious Dust

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Wahhaj et al. (2014)

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Debes et al. (2008)

Scatt

erin

g Effi

cien

cy

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HR 8799

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HR 8799

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Middle Age Planets

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??

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ESO

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‘Retired’ planetary systems

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Bonsor et al. (2013)

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‘Retired’ planetary systems

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The ultimate retirement

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A planetary system’s swan song

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Stel

lar B

right

ness

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White dwarf dust looks like asteroids

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Xu et al. (2014)

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Take Home Points

• Dust traces the lives of planets from birth until death

• Stars more massive than the sun have been a goldmine of information about the diverse and amazing process of planet formation

• While we know much, the process of planet formation is still quite mysterious and surprising—leading us into exciting territory!

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