In search of solar systems

The search for other planetary systems using a new range of instruments is discussed. The pioneering studies done by Van de Kamp using gravitational wobble techniques are reviewed, and the detection of a disk around Beta Pictoris by IRAS is described. The use of speckle interferometry to detect planets outside the solar system is addressed, and the detection of the putative 'brown dwarf' VB 8B by this method is discussed. The potential of the multichannel astrometric photometer, the Space Telescope, and the Astrometric Telescope Facility for detecting other planetary systems is considered.