DEBES , John H.

The close-in regions of bright quasars' host galaxies have been difficult to image due to the overwhelming light coming from quasars. With coronagraphic observations in visible light using the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on the Hubble Space Telescope, we removed 3C 273 quasar light using color-matching reference stars. The...

While nearly two dozen spiral arms have been detected from planet-forming disks in near-infrared scattered light, none of their substellar drivers has been confirmed. By observing spiral systems in at least two epochs spanning multiple years and measuring the motion of the spirals, we can distinguish what causes the spirals and locate the...

Epsilon Eridani is one of the first debris disk systems detected by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite. However, the system has thus far eluded detection in scattered light with no components having been directly imaged. Its similarity to a relatively young solar system combined with its proximity makes it an excellent candidate to further our...

We present the first scattered-light images of the debris disk around 49 Ceti, a ~40 Myr A1 main-sequence star at 59 pc, famous for hosting two massive dust belts as well as large quantities of atomic and molecular gas. The outer disk is revealed in reprocessed archival Hubble Space Telescope NICMOS-F110W images, as well as new coronagraphic...