A VLBI Resolution of the Pleiades Distance Controversy.

昂宿星团是天空中被研究得最好的疏散星星团。它是用来定义“零年龄主序”的主要疏散星团之一，因此它是使用主序拟合来推导银河系其他星团距离的程序的基石。这一作用受到“昴星团距离争议”的质疑;依巴谷空间天体测量使命到昴星团的距离约为120 pc，与其他技术得出的133 pc的距离有很大不同。为了解决这个问题，PI将使用甚长基线干涉测量（VLBI）来获得到昴星团的新的独立三角视差距离。他将完成所有的VLBI测量的样本的10个昴宿星和任何必要的辅助测量与光学和红外望远镜。随着这个项目的完成，昴宿星距离的争议将得到解决，巩固使用的昴宿星在确定银河系结构。在步调一致的情况下，PI将推出一个多方面的教育计划，旨在招募，保留和促进少数群体在科学，技术，工程和数学方面的发展。

The Pleiades is the best studied open star cluster in the sky. It is one of the primary open clusters used to define the "Zero Age Main Sequence" and hence it serves as a cornerstone for programs which use main-sequence fitting to derive distances to other clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy. This role is called into question by the "Pleiades distance controversy"; the distance to the Pleiades from the Hipparcos space astrometry mission of about 120 pc is significantly different from the distance of 133 pc derived from other techniques. In order to resolve this issue, the PI will use Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) to derive a new, independent trigonometric parallax distance to the Pleiades. He will complete all VLBI measurements for the sample of ten Pleiads and any necessary auxiliary measurements with optical and infrared telescopes.With the completion of this project the Pleiades distance controversy will be resolved, solidifying the use of the Pleiades in determining Galactic structure. In lockstep, the PI will launch a multi-faceted education program that is aimed at the recruitment, retention, and advancement of minority groups in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.