WUNA Lunch Talk:

Bettina Posselt

Pennsylvania State University

The quest for disks and planets around neutron stars

November 19

12:10PM, Room 230, NRAO, Edgemont Road

Abstract:

Neutron stars - born in violent supernovae and having powerful high-energy emission - seem unlikely hosts of disks and planets. Yet, the first extrasolar planets discovered in the 90ies are actually orbiting a pulsar. A disk detected with the Spitzer Space telescope around a magnetar sparked interesting debates about its implications for different neutron star formation scenarios. Explaining what we hope to learn from such disks and planets, I will summarize the current status of multi-wavelength searches for disks and planets around neutron stars. In particular, I will present out own search for dusty disks around neutron stars at infrared to submillimeter wavelengths.