Continuation of a Survey of Nearby Stars for Extrasolar Planets

VogtAST 0307493首席调查者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的探测。太阳系外行星的间接探测是通过测量恒星从其看不见的轨道行星拖拽而引起的反射性重心摆动来实现的。到目前为止，这是唯一成功地安全地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。他们的行星测量达到了一种精度，可以追踪到每秒2-3米的恒星速度摆动，在最好的情况下，揭示出的行星伴侣只有几个地球质量。凯克的调查始于1996年，目前正在监测距离太阳150光年内的大约700颗恒星中的行星，并在稳步积累描述行星系统所需的大量行星。这项研究还将确定在发现附近恒星周围的类地行星方面最有希望的目标，这些行星是太空任务有朝一日可能能够成像和探测生命迹象的行星。凯克系外行星调查是培养年轻科学家，特别是女天体物理学研究生的一种工具。她们的参与促进了发现，同时促进了对女性天文学家的教学和培训，这是一个在天体物理学中代表性较低的群体。公众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，并在过去6年里占据了科普媒体的版面。提倡者进行了多次公开演讲、新闻采访、科学会议上的演讲，并撰写了流行的评论文章。

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.