Debris Disks

The debris disk in the solar system refers to the asteroids and comets in the Asteroid and Kuiper Belts as well as the dust and gas derived from them, such as the zodiacal cloud. Observations of extrasolar debris disks provide important constraints on the underlying planetary systems and on the processes of planet formation and protoplanetary disk evolution. This chapter discusses important ways in which debris disks will contribute to our understanding of exoplanet systems in the coming years.