Context. Debris discs are a consequence of the planet formation process and constitute the fingerprints of planetesimal systems. Their solar system counterparts are the asteroid and Edgeworth-Kuiper belts. Aims. The DUNES survey aims at detecting extra-solar analogues to the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt around solar-type stars, putting in this way the solar system into context. The survey allows us to address some questions related to the prevalence and properties of planetesimal systems. Methods. We used Herschel/PACS to observe a sample of nearby FGK stars. Data at 100 and 160 μm were obtained, complemented in some cases with observations at 70 μm, and at 250, 350 and 500 μm using SPIRE. The observing strategy was to integrate as deep as possible at 100 μm to detect the stellar photosphere. Results. Debris discs have been detected at a fractional luminosity level down to several times that of the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt. The incidence rate of discs around the DUNES stars is increased from a rate of ∼12.1% ± 5% before Herschel to ∼20.2% ± 2%. A significant fraction (∼52%) of the discs are resolved, which represents an enormous step ahead from the previously known resolved discs. Some stars are associated with faint far-IR excesses attributed to a new class of cold discs. Although it cannot be excluded that these excesses are produced by coincidental alignment of background galaxies, statistical arguments suggest that at least some of them are true debris discs. Some discs display peculiar SEDs with spectral indexes in the 70-160 μm range steeper than the Rayleigh-Jeans one. An analysis of the debris disc parameters suggests that a decrease might exist of the mean black body radius from the F-type to the K-type stars. In addition, a weak trend is suggested for a correlation of disc sizes and an anticorrelation of disc temperatures with the stellar age.

We carried out multiwavelength (0.7-5 cm), multi-epoch (1994-2015) Very Large Array (VLA) observations toward the region enclosing the bright far-IR sources FIR 3 (HOPS 370) and FIR 4 (HOPS 108) in OMC-2. We report the detection of 10 radio sources, 7 of them identified as young stellar objects. We image a well-collimated radio jet with a thermal free-free core (VLA 11) associated with the Class I intermediate-mass protostar HOPS 370. The jet features several knots (VLA 12N, 12C, 12S) of non-thermal radio emission (likely synchrotron from shock-accelerated relativistic electrons) at distances of ∼7500-12,500 au from the protostar, in a region where other shock tracers have been previously identified. These knots are moving away from the HOPS 370 protostar at ∼100 km s −1 . The Class 0 protostar HOPS 108, which itself is detected as an independent, kinematically decoupled radio source, falls in the path of these non-thermal radio knots. These results favor the previously proposed scenario in which the formation of HOPS 108 is triggered by the impact of the HOPS 370 outflow with a dense clump. However, HOPS 108 has a large proper motion velocity of ∼30 km s −1 , similar to that of other runaway stars in Orion, whose origin would be puzzling within this scenario. Alternatively, an apparent proper motion could result because of changes in the position of the centroid of the source due to blending with nearby extended emission, variations in the source shape, and/or opacity effects.

We present the first far-IR observations of the solar-type stars δ Pav, HR 8501, 51 Peg and ζ 2 Ret, taken within the context of the DUNES Herschel open time key programme (OTKP). This project uses the PACS and SPIRE instruments with the objective of studying infrared excesses due to exoKuiper belts around nearby solar-type stars. The observed 100 μm fluxes from δ Pav, HR 8501, and 51 Peg agree with the predicted photospheric fluxes, excluding debris disks brighter than L dust /L ∼ 5 × 10 −7 (1σ level) around those stars. A flattened, disk-like structure with a semi-major axis of ∼100 AU in size is detected around ζ 2 Ret. The resolved structure suggests the presence of an eccentric dust ring, which we interpret as an exo-Kuiper belt with L dust /L ≈ 10 −5 .

We have conducted deep photometric searches for substellar members of the Praesepe (0.5−1 Gyr) and σ Orionis (3 Myr) star clusters using the Sloan i and z broad-band filters, with the 3.5-m and the 5-m Hale telescopes on the Calar Alto and Palomar Observatories. The total area surveyed was 1177 arcmin 2 and 1122 arcmin 2 towards the central regions of Praesepe and σ Orionis, respectively. The 5-σ detection limit of our survey is measured at i = 24.5 and z = 24 mag, which according to state-of-the-art evolutionary models corresponds to masses of 50−55 M Jup (Praesepe) and 6 M Jup (σ Orionis), i.e., well within the substellar regime. Besides recovering previously known cluster members reported in the literature, we have identified new photometric candidates in both clusters whose masses expand the full range covered by our study. In σ Orionis, follow-up near-infrared photometry has allowed us to confirm the likely cluster membership of three newly discovered planetary-mass objects. The substellar mass function of σ Orionis, which is complete from the star-brown dwarf borderline down to 7 M Jup , rises smoothly with a slope of α = 0.6. One of the faintest Praesepe candidates for which we have obtained follow-up near-infrared JHK s photometry closely fits the expected optical and infrared photometric sequence of the cluster. From its colors, we have estimated its spectral type to be between L4 and L6. If confirmed as a true Praesepe member, it would become the first L-type brown dwarf (50−60 M Jup ) identified in an intermediate-age star cluster. Our derivation of the Praesepe mass function, which is based on state-of-the-art evolutionary models, depends strongly on the cluster age. For the youngest possible ages (500−700 Myr), our results suggest that there is a deficit of Praesepe brown dwarfs in the central regions of the cluster, while the similarity between the Praesepe and σ Orionis mass functions increases qualitatively for models older than 800 Myr.

We present Herschel PACS 100 and 160 μm observations of the solar-type stars α Men, HD 88230 and HD 210277, which form part of the FGK stars sample of the Herschel open time key programme (OTKP) DUNES (DUst around NEarby S tars). Our observations show small infrared excesses at 160 μm for all three stars. HD 210277 also shows a small excess at 100 μm, while the 100 μm fluxes of α Men and HD 88230 agree with the stellar photospheric predictions. We attribute these infrared excesses to a new class of cold, faint debris discs. Both α Men and HD 88230 are spatially resolved in the PACS 160 μm images, while HD 210277 is point-like at that wavelength. The projected linear sizes of the extended emission lie in the range from ∼115 to ≤250 AU. The estimated black body temperatures from the 100 and 160 μm fluxes are 22 K, and the fractional luminosity of the cold dust is L dust /L ∼ 10 −6 , close to the luminosity of the solar-system's Kuiper belt. These debris discs are the coldest and faintest discs discovered so far around mature stars, so they cannot be explained easily invoking "classical" debris disc models.