Debris disks are tenuous disks consisting of dust replenished by collisions of leftover planetesimals and cometary activity. They often have a structure analogous to that of minor body belts in the solar system with asteroid- and/or Kuiper-belt components. Their large surface area makes these disks detectable through infrared and millimeter thermal emission and/or optical scattered light, providing insights into the nature of unseen minor-body populations and the underlying planetary architecture. Their resemblance to the solar system (exo-asteroid and exo-Kuiper-belt analogs) lets us study them to constrain our models of how our solar system formed and evolved. In this talk, I will discuss recent work on characterizing nearby debris systems with SOFIA and ALMA, where their proximity allows for detailed studies of the underlying planetary architecture. The presentation will end by highlighting prospects for future facilities that will help us better understand exoplanetary systems. in general and put our solar system into context.
The video of this talk is available here .