Nature, Vol.383, No.6596, 139-144, 1996
Circumstellar Disks and the Search for Neighboring Planetary Systems
The recent discoveries of planets orbiting several ’mature’ stars bring new life to the question of just how common other planetary systems might be. Observations of very young stars provide a way to address this question and suggest that a significant number of such stars harbour conditions appropriate for the formation of planetary systems like our own.
Keywords:T-TAURI STARS;MAIN-SEQUENCE STARS;YOUNG STELLAR OBJECTS;ACCRETION DISKS;BETA-PICTORIS;BROWN DWARF;HL-TAURI;UNSEEN COMPANIONS;INFRARED-SPECTRA;MOLECULAR CLOUDS