Disks and planetary forming regions as seen by mm/submm interferometers

Abstract

Until the last fifteen years, the origin of planetary systems was mostly investigated from observations and modelling of our own Solar System. However, the new generation of large interferometers, is slowly but surely changing this. In particular, observations of circumstellar gas and dust around young stars similar to the Sun in its infancy are now routinely provided by millimeter and submillimeter arrays with angular resolution corresponding to 40-100 AU, at the distance of the nearest star forming regions (e.g. Taurus-Auriga). Waiting for ALMA, these upgraded instruments provide invaluable information inside the regions of young disks where planets should form. I briefly discuss here their contribution to this scientific domain which is quickly evolving. I will present several well-known objects such as HH30 or AB Auriga in order to emphasize the input of mm/submm arrays but also to demonstrate that multi-wavelength approaches remain necessary to trace the dust and gas material from the inner disk to the outer disk.