From Stars to Dust: Looking into a Circumstellar Disk Through Chondritic Meteorites
Harold C. Connolly, Jr.
One of the most fundamental questions in planetary science is,
How did the solar system form? In this special issue, astronomical
observations and theories constraining circumstellar disks,
their lifetimes, and the formation of planetary to subplanetary
objects are reviewed. At present, it is difficult to observe
what is happening within disks and to determine if another disk
environment is comparable to the early solar system disk environment
(called the protoplanetary disk). Fortunately, we have chondritic
meteorites, which provide a record of the processes that operated
and materials present within the protoplanetary disk.
E-mail: hconnolly{at}kbcc.cuny.edu
