| Abstract |
The detection of extrasolar planets and planetary systems has enormously stimulated and invigorated the studies of planet formation during the last decade. In particular, a detailed picture of the evolution of circumstellar disks which provide the material and environment from and in which planets are expected to form, has been developed. However, the planet formation process itself is in major parts still under discussion. In order to improve our understanding of planet formation and to refine existing hypotheses for the various phases of this process, adequate observational constraints are required.
In this lecture, observations and models of circumstellar disks at various stages of their evolution will be presented. The potential of the combination of multi-wavelength observations obtained through low and high-angular resolution observations will be outlined. Exemplary case studies will be presented which illustrate state-of-the-art observations and subsequent radiative transfer modeling of circumstellar disks. |
