Planetary system architectures in the final stages of planet formation

Abstract

The processes in the last stages of planet formation determine the final assembly and composition of planets. After the protoplanetary discs dissipate, a system of planets and planetesimals -- analogues of the Asteroid and Kuiper Belts -- remains. Ongoing collisions between these bodies produce second-generation dust and gas that form a debris disc. Resolved images of such belts allow us to trace the dynamical history of these systems, including giant impacts and planet-belt interactions, during the crucial era from 10 to a few 100 Myr of terrestrial planet formation. High-resolution mm and optical/near-IR imagers have revolutionised our view of the brightest planetesimal belts, providing first glimpses of diverse structures, many of which show plausible planet imprints, while ALMA has revealed gas in a growing number of systems. Yet these results are strongly biased toward the brightest, mostly young belts around early-type stars, and even for these, crucial details remain undetectable at the required resolution due to their typically low surface brightness. A future (sub-)mm facility with an order of magnitude leap in continuum sensitivity and 10x higher line sensitivity would transform our understanding of late-stage planet formation by enabling the first statistically meaningful surveys of faint outer planetesimal belts across all spectral types, imaging planetary collisions in the inner regions of planetary systems, and gas measurements that trace volatile delivery to terrestrial planets. For the first time, this would reach the faint majority of belts, rather than only the rare bright discs accessible today.

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BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@misc{luppe2026planetary,
  title = {{Planetary system architectures in the final stages of planet formation}},
  author = {Patricia Luppe and Zoe Roumeliotis and Sebastian Marino and Quentin Kral and Joshua B. Lovell and Luca Matrà and Gianni Cataldi and Yinuo Han and Mark Booth and Isabel Rebollido and Camille Bergez-Casalou and Paul Huet and James Miley and Antranik A. Sefilian and Tim D. Pearce and Àgnes Kóspál and Stefano Facchini and Korash Assani and Catherine Walsh and Danae Polychroni and Maria Drozdovskaya},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.21957},
  eprint = {2610.21957},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.21957},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

RIS

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Planetary system architectures in the final stages of planet formation
AU  - Patricia Luppe
AU  - Zoe Roumeliotis
AU  - Sebastian Marino
AU  - Quentin Kral
AU  - Joshua B. Lovell
AU  - Luca Matrà
AU  - Gianni Cataldi
AU  - Yinuo Han
AU  - Mark Booth
AU  - Isabel Rebollido
AU  - Camille Bergez-Casalou
AU  - Paul Huet
AU  - James Miley
AU  - Antranik A. Sefilian
AU  - Tim D. Pearce
AU  - Àgnes Kóspál
AU  - Stefano Facchini
AU  - Korash Assani
AU  - Catherine Walsh
AU  - Danae Polychroni
AU  - Maria Drozdovskaya
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/15
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.21957
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.21957
AB  - The processes in the last stages of planet formation determine the final assembly and composition of planets. After the protoplanetary discs dissipate, a system of planets and planetesimals -- analogues of the Asteroid and Kuiper Belts -- remains. Ongoing collisions between these bodies produce second-generation dust and gas that form a debris disc. Resolved images of such belts allow us to trace the dynamical history of these systems, including giant impacts and planet-belt interactions, during the crucial era from 10 to a few 100 Myr of terrestrial planet formation. High-resolution mm and optical/near-IR imagers have revolutionised our view of the brightest planetesimal belts, providing first glimpses of diverse structures, many of which show plausible planet imprints, while ALMA has revealed gas in a growing number of systems. Yet these results are strongly biased toward the brightest, mostly young belts around early-type stars, and even for these, crucial details remain undetectable at the required resolution due to their typically low surface brightness. A future (sub-)mm facility with an order of magnitude leap in continuum sensitivity and 10x higher line sensitivity would transform our understanding of late-stage planet formation by enabling the first statistically meaningful surveys of faint outer planetesimal belts across all spectral types, imaging planetary collisions in the inner regions of planetary systems, and gas measurements that trace volatile delivery to terrestrial planets. For the first time, this would reach the faint majority of belts, rather than only the rare bright discs accessible today.
ER  -

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