Introduction — Solar and Extra-Solar Planetary Systems

Abstract

Over the last decade, there have been many exciting advances in all fields relating to our understanding of planetary systems. There has been a significant increase in our understanding of the general process of star formation, leading to an expectation that matter will be captured in a flattened envelope or nebula surrounding the young Sun. Theoretical models had predicted this for some time, but in the last decade, firm observational evidence of this has become fairly commonplace, with β Pictoris in particular displaying all the characteristics that were expected in systems where planets formed. The discovery of extra-solar planets has also confirmed the view that planetary formation is a normal phenomenon so that our system is no longer regarded as a ‘one off’ or special. Within the Solar System itself, both space exploration and improved facilities for ground-based observations have increased our knowedge of our own system dramatically. Pluto is now the only planet not to have been visited by a spacecraft, and spacecraft images also exist of asteroids and comets. In addition, it is now known that all the major planets have extensive satellite systems as well as complex ring structures. Finally, two new classes of objects have been discovered: the Centaurs orbiting between the major planets; and the Edgeworth-Kuiper objects beyond Neptune.