Collaborative Research: K-KIDS -- A Reconnaissance of the 5000 Nearest K Dwarfs

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The environments of the 5000 nearest K Dwarf star systems will be explored to answer the question, "How does our Sun compare to other stars"? Surveys will be carried out to provide a detailed understanding of star and planetary formation processes. It will characterize how unique is our Sun and tell us how our Sun (a G Dwarf star) compares to other G,K,M Dwarf stars, provide fundamental statistics that will drive theoretical work on star and planet formation and provide a list of stars where other solar systems may be found, allowing future astrobiologists to evaluate the environment around these stars. Students will be involved in this research and gain STEM expertise in science, mathematics, computer science, and engineering through their participation in this research program. Novel observing programs on binary stars will be developed for the undergraduate students at Southern Connecticut State University. This program K-KIDs, a reconnaissance of the 5000 nearest K Dwarfs, will study the K dwarf stars using three surveys. A wide field survey to characterize companion stars, a high resolution speckle imaging survey to split single stars into doubles and higher order multiples at spatial scales similar to our Solar System, and a high resolution spectroscopic survey to reveal close stellar binaries and discover low mass brown dwarfs and Jovian planet companions and estimate metallicities and ages for the stars. This will allow the discovery of how unusual our Sun is, provide fundamental statistics on G,K and M Dwarf type stars for theoretical studies on star and planet formation, and provide a candidate list for locating other nearby solar systems in the galaxy.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.