How to destroy a debris disk

Planet-planet scattering can either be a good thing or a bad thing for the planetesimals caught in the crossfire. Like many things in life, the key is moderation. The authors of this paper try to figure out how many exoplanet systems with eccentric planets are likely to still have their debris disks after experiencing a planet-planet scattering event.

Iapetus: Growing Up in a Rough Neighborhood

Iapetus: Growing Up in a Rough Neighborhood

Saturn’s moon Iapetus has been bombarded pretty heavily by debris from the outer Solar System. But it’s not TOO smashed up — its strange, 20-km-high, equatorial ridge is still standing. The authors of this paper simulate the bombardment of Iapetus to figure out how much mass could have collided with the moon without destroying the ridge.