Feasibility of transit photometry of nearby debris discs

Abstract

Dust in debris discs is constantly replenished by collisions between larger objects. In this paper, we investigate a method to detect these collisions. We generate models based on recent results on the Fomalhaut debris disc, where we simulate a background star transiting behind the disc, due to the proper motion of Fomalhaut. By simulating the expanding dust clouds caused by the collisions in the debris disc, we investigate whether it is possible to observe changes in the brightness of the background star. We conclude that in the case of the Fomalhaut debris disc, changes in the optical depth can be observed, with values of the optical depth ranging from 10^-0.5 for the densest dust clouds to 10^-8 for the most diffuse clouds with respect to the background optical depth of ∼1.2 × 10^-3.