Topics for discussion range from the formation of planets to forthcoming missions to explore the solar system.

A smaller amount of metal makes the formation of planets much less likely, under the solar nebula theory of planetary system formation.

The cycle of stellar birth and death slowly increases the abundance of heavy elements, eventually allowing the formation of planets.

He works on the theory of accretion disks, with particular application to the formation of planets.

This finding suggests that complex organic molecules may form in stellar systems prior to the formation of planets, eventually arriving on young planets early in their formation.