A Model of Stochastic Collisions as the Cause of Clumps in Debris Disks

A Model of Stochastic Collisions as the Cause of Clumps in Debris Disks

We present a heuristic model for the collisional evolution of material in a debris disk. This is used to consider the probability that the 2-3% brightness clump observed in the sub-mm Fomalhaut disk is caused by stochastic collisions between large planetesimals. While this simple model finds that th...

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Veröffentlicht in:Symposium - International Astronomical Union 2004, Vol.202, p.399-401
Hauptverfasser: Wyatt, M. C., Dent, W. R. F., Greaves, J. S., Holland, W. S.
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:We present a heuristic model for the collisional evolution of material in a debris disk. This is used to consider the probability that the 2-3% brightness clump observed in the sub-mm Fomalhaut disk is caused by stochastic collisions between large planetesimals. While this simple model finds that the probability that the clump is caused by collisions is low (about 1 in 80,000), a more detailed model is required to ascertain its true likelihood.
ISSN:0074-1809
DOI:10.1017/S007418090021838X