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We present the discovery of a circumstellar dust disk surrounding AU Microscopii (AU Mic, GJ 803, HD 197481). This young M star at 10 parsec has the same age and origin as β Pictoris, another nearby star surrounded by a dust disk. The AU Mic disk is detected between 50 astronomical units (AU) and 210 AU radius, a region where dust lifetimes exceed the present stellar age. Thus, AU Mic is the nearest star where we directly observe the solid material required for planet formation. Because 85% of stars are M-type, the AU Mic disk provides new clues on how the majority of planetary systems might form and evolve.

The Auriga-California Molecular Cloud (AMC) is one of two nearby (within 500 pc) giant molecular clouds, the other being the Orion A Molecular Cloud (OMC). We aim to study the properties of circumstellar disks in the AMC to compare the planet formation potential and processes within the AMC to those for other clouds. A first look with measurements from Spitzer observations suggests that AMC disk properties, such as the distribution of disk luminosities and the evolution of the mid-IR excesses, are not vastly different from those in other regions. Follow-up observations in the submm, mm and cm can be used to measure disk masses and the degree of grain growth from spectral slopes to more completely characterize the disk population.

We present the scientific motivation and observing plan for an upcoming detection survey for debris disks using the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. The SCUBA‐2 Unbiased Nearby Stars (SUNS) survey will observe 500 nearby main‐sequence and subgiant stars (100 of each of the A, F, G, K, and M spectral classes) to the 850 μm extragalactic confusion limit to search for evidence of submillimeter excess, an indication of circumstellar material. The survey distance boundaries are 8.6, 16.5, 22, 25, and 45 pc for M, K, G, F, and A stars, respectively, and all targets lie between the declinations of −40° to 80°. In this survey, no star will be rejected based on its inherent properties: binarity, presence of planetary companions, spectral type, or age. The survey will commence in late 2007 and will be executed over 390 hr, reaching 90% completion within 2 years. This will be the first unbiased survey for debris disks since theInfrared Astronomical Satellite. We expect to detect ∼125 debris disks, including ∼50 cold disks not detectable in current shorter wavelength surveys. To fully exploit the order of magnitude increase in debris disks detected in the submillimeter, a substantial amount of complementary data will be required, especially at shorter wavelengths, to constrain the temperatures and masses of discovered disks. High‐resolution studies will likely be required to resolve many of the disks. Therefore, these systems will be the focus of future observational studies using a variety of observatories, includingHerschel, ALMA, andJWST, to characterize their physical properties. For nondetected systems, this survey will set constraints (upper limits) on the amount of circumstellar dust, of typically 200 times the Kuiper Belt mass, but as low as 10 times the Kuiper Belt mass for the nearest stars in the sample (≈2 pc).

The HR 8799 four-planet host is known to host a multi-component disk from Spitzer observations. We have obtained Herschel† observations of the disk which provide increased sensitivity and resolution of its outer components: the planetesimal belt and halo. We find that the two components cannot be discerned from the spectral energy distribution alone, but require resolved images to independently identify them. In the resolved images, the halo stands out for its steep radial profile and large radial extent to 2000 AU, a factor of two larger than was estimated from Spitzer data.

Using photometry at just two wavelengths it is possible to fit a blackbody to the spectrum of infrared excess that is the signature of a debris disc. From this the location of the dust can be inferred. However, it is well known that dust in debris discs is not a perfect blackbody. By resolving debris discs we can find the actual location of the dust and compare this to that inferred from the blackbody fit. Using the Herschel Space Observatory we resolved many systems as part of the DEBRIS survey. Here we discuss a sample of 9 discs surrounding A stars and find that the discs are actually located between 1 and 2.5 times further from their star than predicted by blackbody fits to the spectral energy distribution (SED). The variation in this ratio is due to differences in stellar luminosities, location of the dust, size distribution and composition of the dust.

Submillimetre imaging polarimetry is one of the most powerful tools at present for studying magnetic fields in star-forming regions, and the only way to gain significant information on the structure of these fields. We present analysis of the largest sample (to date) of both high- and low-mass star-forming regions observed using this technique. A variety of magnetic field morphologies are observed, with no single field morphology favoured. Both the continuum emission morphologies and the field morphologies are generally more complex for the high-mass sample than the low-mass sample. The large scale magnetic field (observed with the JCMT; 14″ resolution) of NGC1333 IRAS2 is interpreted to be weak (compared to the energetic contributions due to turbulence) from the random field pattern observed. On smaller scales (observed with the BIMA array; 3″ resolution) the field is observed to be almost radial, consistent with the polarisation nulls in the JCMT data – suggesting that on smaller scales, the field may be more important to the star formation process. An analysis of the magnetic field direction and the jet/outflow axis is also discussed. Cumulative distribution functions of the difference between the mean position angle of the magnetic field vectors and the jet/outflow axis reveal no correlation. However, visual inspection of the maps reveal alignment of the magnetic field and jet/outflow axis in 7 out of 15 high-mass regions and 3 out of 8 low-mass regions.

We present new BIMA observations of the massive star-forming region IRAS 23033+5951 in Cepheus. 3 mm continuum observations reveal that the source decomposes into at least three dusty clumps, each of which has sufficient mass to form a massive star. The most massive clump has a mass of about 225 M and appears to house the massive protostar which drives the prominent CO outflow seen in the region. Our H13CN, 1-0, N2H+ 1-0, and H13CO+ 1-0 maps show that the three continuum sources are all embedded in an elongated structure whose long axis is perpendicular to the outflow. Both H13CO+ and H13CN peak at the geometric center of this structure, which lies between the two prominent continuum peaks. All three lines – H13CN, H13CO+, and N2H+ –show the same velocity gradient along the long axis of their integrated intensity maps. Although the approximately 90,000 AU length of the elongated structure prohibits a disk interpretation, the fact that the dynamical and gas masses of the structure differ by only a factor of a few suggests that the structure may be partially rotationally supported. We also detect a signature of infall toward the center of the structure, seen as an asymmetrically blue HCO+ line where its optically thin isotope, H13CO+, is symmetric and single-peaked.

The presence of infrared excesses around stars directly correlates to spatially-resolved imaging detections of circumstellar disks at both mm and optical/near-infrared wavelengths. High contrast imagers have resolved dozens of circumstellar disks with scattered light polarimetric imaging. Many of these detections are members of the Scorpius-Centaurus OB association, demonstrating it to be a rich sample for investigating planetary system architectures and planet-disk interactions. With the goal of expanding the sample of directly imaged debris disks in Scorpius-Centaurus, we conducted the Disks In Scorpius-Centaurus Survey (DISCS) leveraging knowledge of high-IR excesses and the power of high contrast polarimetric differential imaging. In combination with the GPIES polarimetric disk survey, we observe seven new Scorpius-Centaurus targets to achieve a 60% complete survey of debris disks with IR excesses exceeding \\(2.510^-4\\), resolving four new debris disks. HD 98363, HD 109832, and HD 146181 are resolved for the first time, and HD 112810 is resolved for the first time in polarized intensity. We identify morphological structures that may be indications of planet-disk interactions. We place the systems in the greater context of resolved debris disks, identifying factors of ten differences in scattered light contrast for a given IR excess and implying gaps in our understanding of the smallest and largest dust grains of a system. We conclude that while thermal emission measurements are correlated with scattered light detection, they poorly predict the magnitude of scattered light brightness. We also establish Scorpius-Centaurus debris disks as critical benchmarks in understanding the properties of disks in the scattering regime.

Increasing spatial resolution and contrast capabilities will make possible new direct detections of exoplanets, exozodis, and circumstellar disks. The Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI) has been engineered to sit at the combined focus of the Large Binocular Telescope's two 8.4m apertures. Both apertures are equipped with 672-actuator deformable secondary mirrors, the first of the next generation of “extreme” adaptive optics (AO) systems. We present an overview of the LBTI AO instrument suite and detail current on-sky performance.

In February 2013, the LEECH (LBTI Exozodi Exoplanet Common Hunt) survey began its 100-night campaign from the Large Binocular Telescope atop Mount Graham in Arizona. LEECH neatly complements other high-contrast planet imaging efforts by observing stars in L' band (3.8 microns) as opposed to the shorter wavelength near-infrared bands (1–2.3 microns). This part of the spectrum offers deeper mass sensitivity for intermediate age (several hundred Myr-old) systems, since their Jovian-mass planets radiate predominantly in the mid-infrared. In this proceedings, we present the science goals for LEECH and a preliminary contrast curve from some early data.