| Description |
We have recently used Spitzer to confirm that large IR excesses seenin about 20-30% of old close binary stars by IRAS correspond to verywarm close-in dust that appears to originate from recent collisions ofplanets or planetesimals (Matranga et al. 2010). Somehow, close binariesseem to be destabilizing their planetary progeny, perhaps throughsecular shrinkage of the stellar separation caused by magnetically-drivenangular momentum loss. The aim of this proposal is to use Herschel tosearch for excesses characteristic of Kuiper-belt-like cold dust orplanetesimals in a sample of 88 close binaries from an approvedSpitzer IRAC survey. Probing these larger radii in such systems willprovide a robust sample of broad SEDs to understand debris disks inclose binaries, provide insight into the possibly origin of the Earth massor more of dust required, and give us a unique handle in understandingplanetary formation in circumbinary disks. |
