The science of extrasolar planets is one of the most rapidly
changing areas of astrophysics and planetary science. Ground-
based surveys and dedicated space missions combined have resulted
in many hundreds of planets detected already, with more than 1200
awaiting confirmation. Moreover, NASA’s Kepler mission has
opened up the possibility of discovering Earth-like planets in the habitable zone around some of the 100,000 stars it is surveying
during its 3 to 4-year lifetime. The new Gaia mission is expected
to discover thousands of new planets around stars within 200 parsecs
of the Sun. A key challenge, therefore, is now characterization:
what are these planets actually like and why are they as they are?
To answer these questions, a broad range of skills and expertise
is required. Hence, we solicit papers related to extrasolar
planets, ranging in topics from Solar System science to statistical astrophysics, from ground-based observations to spacecraft
measurements, and from atmospheric/interior/orbital modelling to
instrument building.