Collaborative Research: First Science with the Michigan Young STar Imager at CHARA (MYSTIC)

在过去的十年里，系外行星的数量已经增长到数千颗。已知的绝大多数系外行星与其恒星的距离比地球与太阳的距离还要近。在恒星的距离上，这是一个太小的间距，很难解决。研究人员计划使用一种新技术(红外干涉法)和一种新仪器(神秘仪器)来研究类地行星的形成和发展。对行星的初步研究表明，行星大小分布的差距在地球半径的1.5到2倍之间，调查人员将寻求证实或反驳这一结果。研究生和本科生将参与这项研究。研究人员还将与安娜堡动手博物馆合作，1)创建博物馆展示的移动版本，将在密歇根州巡回展出；2)创建一个动手展览和摊位，前往密歇根州的纳斯卡活动，以向目前可能不寻求STEM体验的观众提供科学推广。年轻恒星周围1au的区域在物理上是很小的天文尺度。然而，这一区域的物理学有着超乎寻常的影响：这是调节恒星质量吸积的地方，设定了形成类地行星的初始条件，控制了巨大行星通过年轻的富含气体的圆盘的迁移，现在Au内部的系外行星人口统计学揭示了行星大小分布的缺口，也表明可用固体的预算可能不足以解释已知的开普勒行星，至少使用当前的圆盘模型是这样。为了直接解决行星形成理论和系外行星人口统计学之间的密切联系，需要对年轻恒星的内部Au进行空间分辨率成像。这只能通过红外干涉测量来实现。利用佐治亚州立大学的查拉阵列(世界上最长的基线光学/红外干涉仪)，研究人员将首次在1.1-2.5微米的波长上以毫秒角分辨率拍摄年轻恒星的图像。这一奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定任务，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The number of exoplanets--planets around stars other than the Sun--has grown into the thousands in the past decade. The vast majority of the known exoplanets have been found closer to their star than the Earth is to our Sun. At the distances of stars, this is too small a spacing to be easily resolved. The investigators plan to use a new technique (infrared interferometry) and a new instrument (MYSTIC), to study how Earth-like planets form and develop. Preliminary studies of planets suggest a gap in planet size distribution between 1.5 and 2 times the radius of the Earth, and the investigators will seek to confirm or disprove that result. Graduate students and undergraduate students will be involved in the research. The investigators will also team with the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum to 1) create mobile versions of museum displays that will travel the state of Michigan and 2) create a hands-on exhibit and booth to travel to NASCAR events in Michigan in order to provide science outreach to an audience that might not currently be seeking STEM experiences.The region inside 1 au around young stars is physically small on an astronomical scale. However, the physics in this region has an out-sized impact: this is where mass accretion onto the star is regulated, the initial conditions for terrestrial planet formation are set, and the migration of giant planets moving through the young gas-rich disk are controlled, Exoplanet demographics of the inner au now reveal a gap in the planet size distribution and also suggest the budget of solids available may not be enough to explain the known Kepler planets, at least using current disk models. To directly address the intimate connections between planet-formation theory and exoplanet demographics, spatially-resolved imaging of the inner au of young stars is needed. This can only be reached through infrared interferometry. Using the Georgia State University CHARA Array (the longest-baseline optical/infrared interferometer in the world) the investigators will image young stars with milliarcsecond angular resolution at wavelengths from 1.1-2.5 microns for the first time.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.