The Tierras Observatory: An Ultra-precise Time-series Photometer to Characterize Nearby Low-mass Stars and Their Terrestrial Exoplanets

由哈佛大学领导的一个小组将对附近的小恒星进行为期三年的调查，以寻找以前的太空或地面计划无法发现的太小或太冷的其他行星。该小组还将监测具有长轨道周期的已知行星，以寻找卫星或环系统。该团队将进行一项长期的活动，以确定体积完整样本中低质量恒星（质量为太阳的10-30%）的自转周期。该项目将为学生和研究员提供培训机会，也将使没有大型研究望远镜的科学家能够进行研究。该团队将提供参与材料，并增加其YouTube频道的收视率。来自美墨边境城镇里约热内卢Rico和亚利桑那州Nogales的初高中学生将参观该望远镜，并参与有关寻找行星和望远镜设计的活动。尽管对系外行星的研究在过去十年中取得了巨大的进展，但我们目前的天文台仍然无法掌握与我们太阳系的许多居民相似的东西。大多数已知的类地系外行星都比地球大得多，除了一些明显的例外，火星和水星大小的行星是否普遍存在仍然是一个悬而未决的问题。目前还没有发现类似伽利略卫星、月球或环行星环的行星围绕系外行星运行。时间序列光度法是在这些问题上取得重大进展的途径。Tierras天文台是一个翻新的1.3米超精密全自动光度计，位于亚利桑那州霍普金斯山上的F.L.惠普尔天文台。Tierras的设计目标是在10分钟和整个观测季节的时间尺度上定期达到百万分之250的光度精度。该天文台现在以科学模式运行，并定期达到其设计的光度精度。蒂拉斯准备进行一项为期三年的调查，以探测像水星这样小的温带类地行星，并寻找外卫星。此外，通过测量未被探测到的低质量恒星的旋转周期，Tierras也将阐明其伴随的系外行星的辐射环境。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。

A team led by Harvard University will perform a three-year survey of nearby small stars in pursuit of additional planets that are too small or too cool to be found by previous space- or ground-based programs. The team will also monitor known planets with long orbital periods to search for moons or systems of rings. The team will undertake a long term campaign to determine the rotation periods of low-mass stars (with 10-30% the mass of the Sun) in a volume complete sample. The project will provide training opportunities for students and fellows and will also enable research by scientists who do not have access to large research telescopes. The team will provide engagement materials and grow viewership of their YouTube channel. Middle and high school students from the US-Mexico border towns of Rio Rico and Nogales, AZ, will visit the telescope and engage in activities to learn about the search for planets and the design of telescopes.Although the study of exoplanets has seen dramatic advances in the past decade, the analogs of many of the denizens of our own Solar system remain beyond the grasp of our current observatories. Most of the known terrestrial exoplanets are significantly larger than the Earth, and, with a few notable exceptions, it remains an open question whether Mars and Mercury-sized worlds are a commonplace. No analogs of the Galilean satellites, or our Moon, or circumplanetary rings has yet been discovered to orbit an exoplanet. Time-series photometry is a path to significant progress on these questions. The Tierras Observatory is a refurbished 1.3-m ultra-precise fully-automated photometer located at the F.L. Whipple Observatory atop Mount Hopkins, Arizona. Tierras is designed to regularly achieve a photometric precision of 250 parts-per-million on a time scale of both 10 minutes and across an observing season. The observatory is now operating in science mode and regularly achieving its design photometric precision. Tierras is ready to undertake a three-year survey to detect temperate terrestrial planets as small as Mercury and search for exo-satellites. Additionally, by measuring the undetected rotation periods of low-mass stars, Tierras will also elucidate the irradiation environment of their attendant exoplanets.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.