Infrared Space Interferometry: Astrophysics & the Study of Earth-Like Planets

The past year has produced some of the most exciting results in the history of astronomy, particularly in the area of planets outside our solar system. Only a half-year before our meeting in Toledo, Spain, the first unambiguous detection of planet-sized masses orbiting main sequence stars were reported. Since that time, evidence for a new exo­ planet has been reported almost at the rate of about o...