A Survey of Nearby Stars for Extrasolar Planets

University Of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz CA

Investigators

Abstract

Vogt, Steven "A Survey of Nearby Stars for Extrasolar Planets" AST-9988358 Dr. Vogt is continuing a very successful search for giant planets around nearby stars (exoplanets). Approximately 1000 main-sequence stars are being monitored for small velocity variations (~2-3 m/sec) imposed by the gravitational perturbations by planetary companions. The exoplanet survey is being conducted primarily with the HIRES spectrometer on the Keck I telescope, supplemented by observations conducted at Lick Observatory. Over the duration of the project, ~12 years, it will be possible to detect Jupiter and Saturn analogs beyond five times the Earth's distance from the Sun. The main goals of the project include: (1) Is our solar system typical or unique? (2) What are the frequency and physical characteristics of exoplanets? (3) Are distant giant planets in nearly circular orbits a prerequisite for the existence of terrestrial planets in the habitable zone? Funding for this project was provided by the NSF program for Stellar Astronomy & Astrophysics (AST/SAA). ***