Accretion disks around young stars: the cradles of planet formation
  Protoplanetary disks around young stars are the birth sights of planetary
systems like our own. Disks represent the gaseous dusty matter left after the
formation of their central stars. The mass and luminosity of the star, initial
disk mass and angular momentum, and gas viscosity govern disk evolution and
accretion. Protoplanetary disks are the cosmic nurseries where microscopic dust
grains grow into pebbles, planetesimals, and planets.
