Collaborative Research: Mapping small and large scale magnetic fields on low mass stars

这个合作项目结合了观测和理论工作，目标是提高对低质量恒星磁场的了解。他们将使用开普勒卫星上M矮星的高精度光曲线来探测晚型恒星上的恒星黑子，以确定恒星质量和自转如何影响局部磁场。他们将使用已经从开普勒获得的数据，以及中等尺寸(1米口径)机器人望远镜的新测光技术，以及加拿大-法国-夏威夷望远镜的新光谱。恒星黑子是恒星表面由磁场活动引起的短暂区域。研究人员还将研究磁场对恒星基本性质的影响，如温度、光度和半径作为M-矮星质量的函数。他们还将确定磁场对耀斑和氢阿尔法发射等天文台活动的相对重要性。广泛的影响包括为STEM专业的本科生提供研究机会，努力扩大来自传统上代表性较低的少数群体的学生的参与。他们还将聘请一组业余天文学家，以获得明亮的日食双星的时间序列光度测量。

This collaborative project combines observational and theoretical efforts with a goal of improving knowledge of magnetic fields on low mass stars. They will use high precision lightcurves of M-dwarfs from the Kepler satellite to probe starspots on late type stars to determine how stellar mass and rotation affect local magnetic fields. They will use data already acquired from Kepler, and new photometry with moderate sized (1-m aperture) robotic telescopes and new spectra with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. Starspots are short-lived areas on the surfaces of stars that are caused by magnetic activity. The researchers will also investigate the effect of magnetic fields on fundamental stellar properties, such as temperature, luminosity and radius as a function of M-dwarf mass. They will also determine the relative importance of magnetic fields on observatory activity, such as flares and hydrogen-alpha emission.Broader impacts include providing research opportunities to undergraduate students in STEM majors, with an effort to broaden participation by students from traditionally underrepresented minority groups. They will also engage a group of amateur astronomers to obtain time series photometry of bright eclipsing binary stars.