RECONS Explores the Long-Term Behavior of Nearby Red Dwarfs

该项目正在对距离太阳最近的恒星进行侦察，距离约80光年。 该团队专注于最小恒星的长期行为，称为红矮星。虽然它们是最小的真恒星，但红矮星的数量最多，占所有恒星的四分之三以上。 重要的是要了解红矮星在温度、大小、活动程度以及是否有其他恒星或行星围绕它们运行等方面与太阳的比较。 该项目将研究银河系中哪些类型的伴星围绕这些最常见的恒星运行，以及这些恒星发出的光在数周至数十年的时间尺度内如何变化。 这项调查将提供深入了解这些恒星周围行星的环境。该项目还为各类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。（邻近恒星研究联合会）的努力是一个观测计划，使用智利Cerro Tololo美洲天文台SMARTS 0.9米望远镜的CCD相机，自1999年以来一直在进行。 观测，现在延长了20多年，正在对大约500个最近的红矮星的目标样本进行研究，以发现和描述太阳系尺度上恒星，棕矮星和木星行星伴侣的轨道结构。 此外，监测相同恒星的光度变化允许表征中（旋转）和长（斑点周期）时间尺度的变化。 这种变化与星星的磁场活动有关。 这样的调查是重要的，因为答案提供了深入了解围绕银河系中最常见的恒星运行的行星所经历的环境。 该项目还为年轻天文学家提供学习天体测量和光度测量技术以及实际观测经验的机会。该奖项反映了NSF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.