Planets around evolved binary stars

在许多不同类型和年龄的恒星周围发现了系外行星。许多行星与它们的主恒星之间的距离比太阳与其最接近的行星水星之间的距离还要近。然而，较老的恒星可能有许多行星，但离恒星本身很近的行星很少。这项研究解决的问题是，在拥有两颗相互环绕的恒星或双星的系统中的行星是如何生存的。首席调查员将为对天文学感兴趣的大学前学生组织一个项目，这些学生被诊断为阅读困难、ADHD和/或自闭症谱系障碍。该计划的目标是鼓励这些高中生继续接受高等教育，并帮助他们克服在前进道路上可能遇到的障碍。这项研究将利用等级长期三体近似，并将包括相关的物理过程，如广义相对论、潮汐和恒星演化。研究人员将通过提供特定的预测将他们的工作与天文观测联系起来，这些预测与当前和未来的观测相比较是可以检验的。这项研究扩展了我们对太阳系以外相互作用的了解，太阳系是天体动力学理论的发源地。由于每一颗恒星都将经历不同的主序演化后阶段，这项研究将在演化的恒星双星中详细分析行星系统的命运。这一奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定任务，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Exoplanets are found around many different types and ages of stars. Many planets circle closer to their host stars than the distance from our Sun to its closest planet, Mercury. Older stars, however, can have many planets but very few planets located close to the star itself. This research addresses the question of how planets in systems having two stars that orbit each other, or binary stars, survive. The Principal Investigator will organize a program for pre-college students with an interest in astronomy who are diagnosed with dyslexia, ADHD, and/or autism spectrum disorder. The goal of the program is to encourage these high schoolers to pursue higher education and to help them overcome obstacles that they could encounter on their way. This research will utilize the hierarchical secular three body approximation and will include relevant physical processes, such as general relativity, tides and stellar evolution. The investigators will link their work to astronomical observations by providing specific predictions that are testable when compared to current and future observations. This research expands our knowledge of interactions taking place beyond the limits of our solar system, the regime from which astrodynamics theory originated. Since every star will undergo various post main sequence evolutionary stages this study will provide a detailed analysis of the fate of planetary systems in evolved stellar binaries.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.