FOMALHAUT b AS A CLOUD OF DUST: TESTING ASPECTS OF PLANET FORMATION THEORY
FOMALHAUT b AS A CLOUD OF DUST: TESTING ASPECTS OF PLANET FORMATION THEORY
We consider the ability of three models—impacts, captures, and collisional cascades—to account for a bright cloud of dust in Fomalhaut b. Our analysis is based on a novel approach to the power-law size distribution of solid particles central to each model. When impacts produce debris with (1) little material in …