Research
The aim of my research is to understand how planetary systems form and evolve. It involves both theoretical and observational studies of extrasolar planetary systems, as well as of our own solar system. The main strength of my research is in the development of models of the physical and dynamical evolution of circumstellar material and their application to the interpretation of circumstellar disk observations. Past highlights of my work include linking clumps seen Vega’s dust disk to resonant trapping by an unseen Neptune-like planet in this system (Wyatt 2003), the discovery of a spatially resolved Kuiper Belt around the star eta Corvi (Wyatt et al. 2005), and modeling disk collisional evolution showing that the rare systems with hot dust are undergoing transient events, perhaps akin to the solar system’s period of Late Heavy Bombardment (Wyatt et al. 2007a), although the debris disks of most stars are evolving in quasi steady-state (Wyatt et al. 2007b). I wrote a review of debris disk evolution for ARAA (Wyatt 2008), which is a good introduction to this topic.
Selected papers
- Resolved Debris Discs Around A Stars in the Herschel DEBRIS Survey
- Booth M., Kennedy G. M., Sibthorpe B., Matthews B. C., Wyatt M. C., Duchene G., Kavelaars J. J., Rodriguez D., Greaves J. S., Koning A., Vican L., Rieke G. H., Su K. Y. L., Moro-Martin A., Kalas P. 2012, MNRAS, in press.
- The Exozodiacal Dust Problem for Direct Observations of ExoEarths
- Roberge A., Chen C. H., Millan-Gabet R., Weinberger A. J., Hinz P. M., Stapelfeldt K. R., Absil O., Kuchner M. J. Bryden G., \& the NASA ExoPAG SAG1 Team 2012, PASP, in press.
- Herschel imaging of 61 Vir: implications for the prevalence of debris in low-mass planetary systems
- Wyatt M. C., Kennedy G., Sibthorpe B., Moro-Martin A., Lestrade J.-F., Ivison R. J., Matthews B., Udry S., Greaves J. S., Kalas P., Lawler S., Su K. Y. L., Rieke G. H., Booth M., Bryden G., Horner J., Kavelaars J. J., Wilner D. 2012, MNRAS, 424, 1206.
- Debris disks as signposts of terrestrial planet formation. II Dependence of exoplanet architectures on giant planet and disk properties
- Raymond S. N., Armitage P. J., Moro-Martin A., Booth M., Wyatt M. C., Armstrong J. C., Mandell A. M., Selsis F., West A. A., 2012, A&A, 541, A11.
- 99 Herculis: Host to a Circumbinary Polar-ring Debris Disk
- Kennedy G., Wyatt M. C., Sibthorpe B., Duchene G., Kalas P., Matthews B., Greaves J. S., Su K. Y. L., Fitzgerald M. 2012, MNRAS, 421, 2264.
- Spitzer Evidence for a Late Heavy Bombardment and the Formation of Urelites in eta Corvi at ~1 Gyr
- Lisse C. M., Wyatt M. C., Chen C. H., Morlock A., Watson D. M., Manoj P., Sheehan P., Currie T. M., Thebault P., Sitko M. L., 2012, ApJ, 747, 93.
- Multi-Epoch Observations of HD69830: High Resolution Spectroscopy and Limits to Variability
- Beichman C. A., Lisse C. M., Tanner A. M., Bryden G., Akeson R. L., Ciardi D. R., Boden A. F., Dodson-Robinson S. E., Salyk C., Wyatt M. C., 2011, ApJ, 743, 85.
- Multi-Wavelength Modelling of the beta Leo Debris Disc: 1, 2 or 3 Planetisimal Populations?
- Churcher L. J., Wyatt M. C., Duchene G., Sibthorpe B., Kennedy G., Matthews B. C., Kalas P., Greaves J. S., Su K., Rieke G., 2011, MNRAS, 417, 1715.
- Debris disks as signposts of terrestrial planet formation
- Raymond S. N., Armitage P. J., Moro-Martin A., Booth M., Wyatt M. C., Armstrong J. C., Mandell A. M., Selsis F., West A. A., 2011, A&A, 530, A62.
- Forming the first planetary system$ around Galactic thick disc stars
- Sheehan C. K. W., Greaves J. S., Bryden G., Rieke G. H., Su K. Y. L., Wyatt M. C., Fischer D. A., Beichman C. A., 2010, MNRAS, 408, L90.
- Resolving debris discs in the far-infrared: early highlights from the DEBRIS survey
- Matthews B. C., Sibthorpe B., Kennedy G., Phillips N., Churcher L., Duchene G., Greaves J. S., Lestrade J.-F., Moro-Martin A., Wyatt M. C., Bastien P., Biggs A., Bouvier J., Butner H. M. Dent W. R. F., Di Francesco J., Eisloffel J., Graham J., Harvey P., Hauschildt P., Holland W. S., Horner J., Ibar E., Ivison R. J., Johnstone D., Kalas P., Kavelaars J., Rodriguez D., Udry S., van der Werf P., Wilner D., Zuckerman B., 2010, A&A, 518, L135.
- Planets and Debris Disks: Results from a Spitzer/MIPS Search for IR Excess
- Bryden G., Beichman C. A., Carpenter J. M., Rieke G. H., Stapelfeldt K. R., Werner M. W., Tanner A. M., Lawler S. M., Wyatt M. C., Trilling D. E., Su K. Y. L., Baylock M., Stansberry J. A. 2009, ApJ, 705, 1226.
- Extra-solar Kuiper Belt dust disks
- Moro-Martin A., Wyatt M. C., Malhotra R., Trilling D. E. 2008. In Kuiper Belt, eds. A. Barucci, H. Boehnhardt, D. Cruikshank and A. Morbidelli, (Tucson, Univ of Arizona Press), 465-480.
- An Unbiased Survey of 500 Nearby Stars for Debris Disks: A JCMT Legacy Program
- Matthews B. C., Greaves J. S., Holland W. S., Wyatt M. C., Barlow M. J., Bastien P., Beichman C. A., Biggs A., Butner H. M., Dent W. R. F., Di Francesco J., Dominik C., Fissel L., Friberg P., Gibb A. G., Halpbern M., Ivison R. J., Jayawardhana R., Jenness T., Johnstone D., Kavelaars J. J., Marshall J. L., Phillips N., Schieven G., Snellen I. A. G., Walker H. J., Ward-Thompson D., Weferling B., White G. J., Yates J., Zhu M., 2007, PASP, 119, 842.
- New debris disks around nearby main sequence stars: impact on the direct detection of planets
- Beichman C. A., Bryden G., Stapelfeldt K. R., Gautier T. N., Grogan K., Shao M., Velusamy T., Lawler S., Blaylock M., Rieke G. H., Lunine J. I., Fischer D. A., Marcy G. W., Greaves J. S., Wyatt M. C., Holland W. S., Dent W. R. F. 2006, ApJ, 652, 1674.
- Dust in Resonant Extrasolar Kuiper Belts: Grain Size and Wavelength Dependence of Disk Structure
- Wyatt M. C. 2006, ApJ, 639, 1153.
- Metallicity, Debris Disks, and Planets
- Greaves J. S., Fischer D. A., Wyatt M. C. 2006, MNRAS, 366, 283.
- Spiral Structure when Setting up Pericentre Glow: Possible Giant Planets at Hundreds of AU in the HD141569 Disk, moviefig3a, moviefig3b, moviefig4, moviefig5, fig4 in colour
- Wyatt M. C., 2005, A&A, 440, 937.
- The Vega Debris Disk - A Surprise from Spitzer
- Su K. Y. L., Rieke G. H., Misselt K. A., Stansberry J. A., Moro-Martin A., Stapelfeldt K. R., Werner M. W., Trilling D. E., Bendo G. J., Gordon K. D., Hines D. C., Wyatt M. C., Holland W. S., Marengo M., Megeath S. T., Fazio G. G. 2005, ApJ, 628, 487.
- The Insignificance of P-R Drag in Detectable Extrasolar Planetesimal Belts
- Wyatt M. C., 2005, A&A, 433, 1007.
- The Origin and Evolution of Dust Belts
- Wyatt M. C., 2005. In Dynamics of Populations of Planetary Systems, eds. Z. Knezevic and A. Milani, Proceedings of IAU Colloquium 197, 383.
- Sub-millimeter Images of a Dusty Kuiper Belt around Eta Corvi, fig1 (high res),
- Wyatt M. C., Greaves J. S., Dent W. R. F., Coulson I. M., 2005, ApJ, 620, 492.
- Structure in the Epsilon Eridani Debris Disk
- Greaves, J. S., Holland, W. S., Wyatt M. C., Dent, W. R. F., Robson, E. I., Coulson, I. M. C., Jenness, T., Moriarty-Schieven, G. H., Davis, G. R., Butner, H. M., Gear, W. K., Dominik, C., Walker, H. J., 2005, ApJ, 619, L187.
- Mid-infrared images of beta Pictoris and the possible role of planetesimal collisions in the central disk
- Telesco C. M., Fisher R. S., Wyatt M. C., Dermott S. F., Kehoe T. J. J., Novotny S., Marinas N., Radomski J. T., Packham C., de Buizer J., Hayward T. L., 2005, Nature, 433, 133.
- The debris disc around Tau Ceti: a massive analogue to the Kuiper Belt
- Greaves J. S., Wyatt M. C., Holland W. S., Dent W. R. F., 2004, MNRAS, 351, L54.
- Modeling the Structures of Dusty Disks: Unseen Planets?
- Wyatt M. C., 2004. In The Search for Other Worlds: Fourteenth Astrophysics Conference. AIP Conf. Proc., 713, 93.
- Sub-mm Observations and Modelling of Vega-type Stars
- Sheret I., Dent W. R. F., Wyatt M. C., 2004, MNRAS, 348, 1282.
- A Search for Debris Discs around Stars with Giant Planets
- Greaves J. S., Holland W. S., Jayawardhana R., Wyatt M. C., Dent W. R. F., 2004, MNRAS, 348, 1097.
- Resonant Trapping of Planetesimals by Planet Migration: Debris Disk Clumps and Vega's Similarity to the Solar System
- Wyatt M. C., 2003, ApJ, 598, 1321.
- Extrasolar Analogues to the Kuiper Belt
- Wyatt M. C., Holland W. S., Greaves J. S., Dent W. R. F., 2003, Earth Moon Planets, 92, 423.
- Book Review: Exploration of the Solar System by Infrared Remote Sensing / Cambridge University Press, 2003
- Wyatt M. C., 2003, The Observatory, 1176, 306.
- Some Anomalies in the Occurrence of Debris Discs around Main-sequence A and G Stars
- Greaves J. S., Wyatt M. C., 2003, MNRAS, 345, 1212.
- SCUBA Observations of Dust around Lindroos Stars: Evidence for a Substantial Submillimetre Disc Population
- Wyatt M. C., Dent W. R. F., Greaves J. S., 2003, MNRAS, 342, 876.
- Local Heating in the Galactic Center Western Arc
- Marinas N., Telesco C. M., Pina R. K., Fisher R. S., Wyatt M. C., 2003, AJ, 125, 1345.
- Submillimeter Observations of an Asymmetric Dust Disk around Fomalhaut
- Holland W. S., Greaves J. S., Dent W. R. F., Wyatt M. C., Zuckerman B., Webb R. A., McCarthy C., Coulson I. M., Robson E. I., Gear W. K., 2003, ApJ, 582, 1141.
- Dust Clumps in Fomalhaut and Other Debris Disks
- Wyatt M. C., Holland W. S., Dent W. R. F., Greaves J. S., 2004. In Debris Disks and the Formation of Planets: A Symposium in Memory of Fred Gillett, eds. L. Caroff, J. L. Moon, D. Backman and E. Praton, ASP Conf. Ser., 324, 244
- Warm Debris Disks: Where Is Their Dust and Why?
- Wyatt M. C., 2002. In Observing with the VLTI, eds. G. Perrin and F. Malbet, EAS Publ. Ser. 6, 293.
- Collisional Processes in Extrasolar Planetesimal Disks - Dust Clumps in Fomalhaut's Debris Disk
- Wyatt M. C., Dent W. R. F., 2002, MNRAS, 334, 589.
- New Sub-millimeter Limits on Dust in the 55 Cancri Planetary System
- Jayawardhana R., Holland W. S., Kalas P., Greaves J. S., Dent W. R. F., Wyatt M. C., Marcy G. W., 2002, ApJ, 570, L93.
- The Potential of Exozodiacal Disk Clumps to Confound the Search for Terrestrial Planets
- Wyatt M. C., 2001. In Techniques for the Detection of Planets and Life beyond the Solar System, ed. W. R. F. Dent (Occasional Reports of the Royal Observatory Edinburgh #17).
- Orbital evolution of interplanetary dust
- Dermott S. F., Grogan K., Durda D. D., Jayaraman S., Kehoe T. J. J., Kortenkamp S. J., Wyatt M. C., 2001. In Interplanetary Dust, eds. E. Grun, B. A. S. Gustafson, S. F. Dermott and H. Fechtig (Berlin: Springer-Verlag), pp. 569-639.
- A Model of Stochastic Collisions as the Cause of Clumps in Debris Disks
- Wyatt M. C., Dent W. R. F., Greaves J. S., Holland W. S., 2001. In Planetary Systems in the Universe: Observation, Formation and Evolution, eds. A. Penny, P. Artymowicz, A. M. Lagrange, and S. S. Russell, ASP Conf. Ser.
- Pericentre Glow: A Signature of Hidden Planets in HR 4796?
- Wyatt M. C., Dermott S. F., Telesco C. M., 2000. In Disks, Planetesimals and Planets, eds. F. Garzon et al., ASP Conf. Ser., 219, 289.
- Detection of Extended Thermal Infrared Emission around the Vega-like Source HD 141569
- Fisher R. S., Telesco C. M., Pina R. K., Knacke R. F., Wyatt M. C., 2000, ApJ, 532, L141.
- Deep 10 and 18 um Imaging of the HR 4796A Circumstellar Disk: Transient Dust Particles and Tentative Evidence for a Brightness Asymmetry
- Telesco C. M., Fisher R. S., Pina R. K., Knacke R. F., Dermott S. F., Wyatt M. C., Grogan K., Holmes E. K., Ghez A. M., Prato L. A., Hartmann L. W., Jayawardhana R., 2000, ApJ, 530, 329.
- Signatures of Planets in the Observable Structure of Circumstellar Debris Disks
- Wyatt M. C., 1999, Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. Florida.
- How Observations of Circumstellar Disk Asymmetries Can Reveal Hidden Planets: Pericenter Glow and its Application to the HR 4796 Disk
- Wyatt M. C., Dermott S. F., Telesco C. M., Fisher R. S., Grogan K., Holmes E. K., Pina R. K., 1999, ApJ, 527, 918.
- SIRTF: A Unique View through the Earth's Resonant Ring
- Wyatt M. C., Dermott S. F., Grogan K., Jayaraman S., 1999. In Astrophysics with Infrared Surveys: A Prelude to SIRTF, eds. M. D. Bicay et al., ASP Conf. Ser., 177, 374.
Career
- 2000-2005 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Royal Observatory Edinburgh
- 2005-2008 Royal Society University Research Fellow, Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge
- 2006-2011 University Lecturer, Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge
- 2011-2016 Reader in Astrophysics, Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge
- 2015-present Fellow of Pembroke College
- 2016-present Professor of Astrophysics, Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge
Qualifications
- 1994 B.A. Hons in Engineering, University of Cambridge
- 1996 M.Sc. in Astrophysics, Queen Mary University of London
- 1999 Ph.D. in Astronomy, University of Florida
Awards and Prizes
- William Heron Scholar of Engineering, Peterhouse (1992, 1993, 1994)
- Routh Prize for Engineering, Peterhouse (1994)
- Morien Morgan Prize, Cambridge University (1994)
- Royal Aeronautical Society Prize in Aeronautics, Cambridge University (1994)
- Fulbright Scholarship (1997)
- Grinter Fellowship, University of Florida (1997, 1998, 1999)
- Nutter Dissertation Fellowship, University of Florida (1999)