Prof. Russel White
High spatial resolution imaging reveals directly how molecular clouds amass into stars and circumstellar disks agglomerate into planets. Concordantly, high dispersion spectroscopy precisely measures fundamental star properties, and now basic planet properties through the discovery and characterization of hundreds of extrasolar planets. In this talk I will present new research utilizing both techniques to establish the frequency of star, brown dwarf, and planetary companions to young suns within just a few million years of their formation. I will also highlight how many outstanding problems in star and planet formation research can be properly addressed using these two powerful observational tools in concert.