© NASA/Marc Kuchner and Christopher StarkDust models.
A hole in the dust disk surrounding our solar system would tell alien observers there are planets here, a new simulation shows. The new model, which tracks thousands of tiny particles beyond the orbit of Neptune, could help astronomers work out the properties of planets in other stars' dust disks.
"We're trying to create a new planet search technique, and we're practicing on the solar system," said NASA exoplanet scientist Marc Kuchner, lead author of a paper describing the results in the September 7
Astrophysical Journal.The cloud of dust comes from the Kuiper Belt, the region beyond Neptune that contains small, icy bodies, including Pluto. These giant snowballs sometimes smack into each other, sending up flurries of ice grains. These tiny clots of ice and minerals get tugged around by the gravitational influence of giant planets, as well as the solar wind and small nudges from sunlight.
Similar clouds of dust has been spotted around several other stars, including Fomalhaut, the first star to have its planets directly photographed. Most extrasolar planets are too dim to have their portraits taken directly, but their presence can warp the disk of dust and debris around their stars into distinctive shapes, telling outside observers the planets are there.
