RECONS Explores the Long-Term Behavior of Nearby Red Dwarfs

这个项目正在对距离太阳最近的恒星进行侦察，距离大约80光年。该团队专注于最小恒星的长期行为，即红矮星。虽然红矮星是最小的真正的恒星，但红矮星的数量却是最多的，占所有恒星的四分之三以上。了解红矮星在温度、大小、活动程度以及是否有其他恒星或行星环绕等方面与太阳的比较是很重要的。这个项目将研究什么样的伴星围绕着银河系中最常见的恒星运行，以及这些恒星发出的光在几周到几十年的时间尺度上是如何变化的。这项调查将提供对这类恒星周围行星环境的深入了解。该项目还为不同群体的学生提供天体测量观测技术方面的培训，并为天文学界、媒体和广大公众管理数据传播资源。recon（近地恒星研究联盟）项目的基石是一个观测项目，该项目使用位于智利塞罗·托洛洛美洲天文台的SMARTS 0.9米望远镜上的CCD相机，该项目自1999年以来一直在进行。目前，对大约500颗最近的红矮星的目标样本进行了20多年的观测，目的是在太阳系尺度上发现恒星、褐矮星和类木行星的轨道结构，并对其进行表征。此外，对同一颗恒星的光度变异性的监测允许在中等（旋转）和长（光斑周期）时间尺度上描述变化。这种变化与恒星的磁场活动有关。这样的调查很重要，因为这些答案提供了对银河系中最常见恒星周围行星所经历的环境的深入了解。该项目还为年轻的天文学家提供了学习天文测量和光度测量技术的机会，以及实践观测经验。SMARTS/0.9米望远镜将继续用于这个长期项目和天文社区。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project is conducting a reconnaissance of the nearest stars to the Sun, to a distance of about 80 light years. The team is focused on the long-term behavior of the smallest stars, known as red dwarfs. Although these are the smallest true stars, the red dwarfs are the largest in number, accounting for more than three-quarters of all stars. It is important to understand how the red dwarfs compare to the Sun in temperature, size, how active they are, and whether or not they are orbited by other stars or planets. This project will investigate what types of companions orbit these most common stars in the Galaxy and how the light from these stars changes over timescales of weeks to decades. This investigation will provide insight into the environments of the planets around such stars. The project also provides training for a diverse group of students in the techniques of astrometric observations and in managing data dissemination resources for the astronomical community, the media, and the wider public.The cornerstone of the RECONS (REsearch Consortium On Nearby Stars) effort is an observing program using a CCD camera at the SMARTS 0.9m telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, that has been underway since 1999. Observations, now extending for more than twenty years, are being made on a target sample of about five hundred of the nearest red dwarfs to discover and characterize the orbital architectures of stellar, brown dwarf, and Jovian planetary companions on Solar System scales. Additionally, monitoring of the photometric variability of the same stars permits characterization of changes over medium (rotation), and long (spot cycle) timescales. Such variability is linked to magnetic activity in the star. Such investigations are important as the answers provide insight into the environments experienced by orbiting planets around the most common stars in the Galaxy. The project also provides opportunities for young astronomers to learn astrometric and photometric techniques, as well as hands-on observing experience. Access to the SMARTS/0.9-meter telescope for this long term project and for the astronomical community will be maintained.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.