Dusty Circumstellar Disks

Dusty circumstellar disks in orbit around main-sequence stars were discovered in 1983 by the infrared astronomical satellite. It was the first time material that was not another star had been seen in orbit around a main-sequence star other than our Sun. Since that time, analyses of data from the infrared astronomical satellite, the infrared space observatory, and ground-based telescopes have enabled astronomers to paint a picture of dusty disks around numerous main-sequence and post–main-sequence stars. This review describes, primarily in an evolutionary framework, the properties of some dusty disks orbiting, first, pre–main-sequence stars, then main-sequence and post–main-sequence stars, and ending with white dwarfs.