The Observation of Circumstellar Disks: Dust and Gas Components

Since the 1990's, protoplanetary disks and planetary disks have been intensively observed from the optical to the millimetre wavelength and many models have been developed to investigate their gas and dust properties and dynamics. These studies remain empirical and rely on poor statistics with only a few well known objects. However, the late phases of the stellar formation are among the most critical for the formation of planetary systems. Therefore, we believe it is timely to tentatively summarize the observed properties of circumstellar disks around young stars from the protoplanetary to the planetary phases. Our main concern is to present the physical properties considered as observationally robust and to show their main physical differences associated to an evolutionary scheme. We also describe areas still poorly understood such as how protoplanetary disks disappear to lead to planetary disks and eventually planets.