DIX Planetary Science Seminar

Of around 4100 extrasolar planetary systems discovered as of October 2023, a sizable fraction of nearby solar-type stars are surrounded by dusty disks, analogous to the solar system's small body reservoirs. The dust therein plays a central role in sculpting planetary systems as a building block of planetesimals and as a feedstock for synthesizing complex organic molecules and ice that could be significant on habitability. As a result, the locations and physical properties of the dust in these structures provide essential probes of the processes of the formation and subsequent dynamical evolution of planetary systems, with our solar system being a reference thanks to its highest-ever accessibility. Comets and comet-like primitive asteroids represent the best opportunity to explore this fundamental thrust because they preserve the least-altered planetesimal left from the formative epoch. This talk will present our recent work using ground-based telescopes investigating the evolution of our solar system through dust particles composed of small bodies