title: Circumstellar disks and the search for neighbouring planetary systems.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut fur Astronomie, Königstuhl, Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Beckwith
authors.forename: A I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Sargent
mesh_terms: D016083:Planets; D016082:Solar System