Continuation of a Survey of Nearby Stars for Extrasolar Planets

VogtAST 0307493首席研究员和合作者将继续对附近恒星周围的行星进行世界上最高精度和最深入的调查。太阳系外的行星是通过测量一颗星星的反射重心摆动来间接探测的，这种摆动是由它看不见的轨道行星的牵引引起的。到目前为止，这是唯一一种成功找到太阳系外行星的方法。在100颗已知行星中，约有70%是由该项目的研究团队发现的。他们的行星观测达到了一个精确度，允许恒星速度摆动小到每秒2-3米被跟踪，在最好的情况下，揭示行星的同伴只有几个地球质量。凯克巡天计划自1996年开始进行，目前正在监测距离太阳150光年以内的约700颗恒星，寻找行星，并正在稳步积累表征行星系统所需的大量行星。 这项研究还将确定在附近恒星周围寻找类地行星的最有希望的目标，这些行星有朝一日可能被太空任务成像和探测，以寻找生命迹象的证据。凯克系外行星调查是教育年轻科学家，特别是天体物理学女研究生的一种手段。他们的参与推动了发现，同时促进了女天文学家的教学和培训，这是天体物理学中代表性不足的群体。公共宣传进一步扩大了影响。寻找太阳系外行星引起了公众的强烈共鸣，在过去的6年里，它一直占据着大众科学媒体的版面。提案人做了许多公开演讲，新闻采访，在科学会议上演讲，并撰写流行的评论文章。

VogtAST 0307493The Principle Investigator and collaborators will continue the worlds highest-precision and deepest-reach survey for planets around nearby stars. Extrasolar planets are detected indirectly by measuring the reflex barycentric wobble of a star caused by tugging from its unseen orbiting planet. To date, this is the only method that has succeeded in securely finding extrasolar planets. About 70% of the 100 known planets were discovered by the research team of this project. Their planet survey reaches a precision which allows stellar velocity wobbles as small as 2-3 meters per second to be tracked, revealing planetary companions down to only a few earth-masses in the best cases. The Keck survey, underway since 1996, is monitoring about 700 stars within 150 light-years of the Sun for planets, and is steadily accumulating the large numbers of planets required to characterize planetary systems. This research will also identify the most promising targets for finding earth-like planets around nearby stars, planets that space missions may someday be able to image and probe for evidence of life signs.Broader Impacts. The Keck exoplanet survey serves as a vehicle for educating young scientists, particularly female astrophysics graduate students. Their participation advances discovery while promoting the teaching and training of woman astronomers, an underrepresented group in astrophysics. Public outreach further broadens the impact. The hunt for extrasolar planets resonates strongly with the public, and has dominated the pages of popular science media for the past 6 years. The proposers give many public talks, press interviews, talks at scientific conferences, and write popular review articles.