Collaborative Research: A Survey for Multiplicity of Low-mass (Class M) Dwarf Stars

这个合作项目将使用成像和分光光度法来研究2000颗最近的恒星。高空间分辨率的图像将能够揭示被束缚的行星。分光光度会提供有关系统的信息吗？温度和轨道特性。这项工作将聚焦于一种名为M-矮星的恒星，它比太阳更冷，质量更小。这些恒星也被认为比像太阳这样的恒星更有可能拥有适合生命居住的岩石行星。观测将使用亚利桑那州的两个望远镜和加利福尼亚州的一个望远镜进行。科学成果将被纳入探索频道的外展计划。来自北亚利桑那大学和南康涅狄格州立大学的学生将参与这项研究。研究小组将使用洛厄尔天文台4.5米望远镜上的微分散斑测量仪和洛厄尔？S 31英寸望远镜上的R=600型可见光多目标分光光度计。通过比较在两个波长同时观测到的散斑图样，DSSI可以测量低于衍射极限的伴星的间隔。后续的光谱测量将为恒星的表征和光谱能量分布的拟合提供数据。该团队还将使用Palomar 200英寸望远镜，使用红外相机或光学积分场光谱仪和等时线建模的数据来评估被束缚的同伴。

This collaborative project will use imaging and spectrophotometry to study 2,000 of the nearest stars. The high spatial resolution images will be capable of revealing bound planets. The spectrophotometry will provide information about the systems? temperatures and orbital characteristics. The work will focus on a type of star called M-dwarfs, which are cooler and less massive than the Sun. These stars are also considered more likely to have rocky planets habitable to life than stars like the Sun. Observations will be made with two telescopes in Arizona and one in California. Scientific results will be incorporated into an outreach program with the Discovery Channel. Students from Northern Arizona University and Southern Connecticut State University will participate in the research.The team will use the Differential Speckle Survey Instrument (DSSI) on Lowell Observatory 4.5m telescope and the R=600 visible-light multi-object spectrophotometer on Lowell?s 31-inch telescope. Through the comparison of speckle patterns simultaneously observed at two wavelengths, DSSI can measure separations of companions below the diffraction limit. Follow-up spectrophotometry will provide data for stellar characterization and spectral energy distribution fitting. The team will also use the Palomar 200-inch telescope to assess bound companions using data from an infrared camera or optical integral field spectrometer and isochrone modeling.