How massive are exo-Kuiper Belts?

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• Dr Tim Pearce (Warwick)
• Thursday 13 November 2025, 13:30-14:30
• Ryle seminar room + ONLINE - Details to be sent by email.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact James Rogers.

Note: Thursday instead of normal Tuesday slot

Our Solar System contains many small objects, such as asteroids and comets, which are mainly concentrated in the Asteroid and Kuiper Belts. Other stars have similar belts, which appear to be fundamental components of planetary systems. Many extrasolar belts are much brighter than those in the Solar System, and they have a diverse range of shapes and structures, which may be indicative of planetary interactions. However, there is a key gap in our knowledge: we do not know how massive extrasolar belts are. This is important, because belt masses have significant implications for the formation, evolution and architectures of planetary systems. In this talk, I describe our current efforts to dynamically weigh exo-Kuiper Belts, using new techniques and observations. These methods have not been implemented before, but show promise for finally constraining belt masses. I will also discuss the science that would open up if we could weigh these belts, and what this could mean for future theory and observations. For this talk I assume no prior knowledge, and the talk should be accessible to a wide range of seniorities and experience levels.

This talk is part of the Exoplanet Seminars series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• Cambridge Astronomy Talks
• Combined External Astrophysics Talks DAMTP
• Cosmology, Astrophysics and General Relativity
• Exoplanet Seminars
• Institute of Astronomy Talk Lists
• LCLU Departmental Talks
• Ryle seminar room + ONLINE - Details to be sent by email

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