Magnetism in the Habitable Zone: Simulations of Dynamo Activity in Lower-Mass Stars

Brown Benjamin P, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Dr. Benjamin Brown is awarded an NSF Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship to carry out a program of research and education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Brown will explore through 3-D numerical simulations the interplay between convection, rotation and resulting dynamo action in stars like our sun. These simulations of lower-mass G-, K- and M-dwarf stars will have important implications for our understanding of the solar and stellar dynamos and will have direct relevance for the search for Earth-like planets around distant stars. To understand whether life can exist outside of our own solar system, we must understand the environment of planets orbiting habitable, solar-like stars by exploring the magnetic activity of those stars. These cutting-edge simulations, conducted in part with NSF PACI support on national supercomputers, will help address the fundamental questions raised by magnetism in stars like our sun. Dr. Brown will also increase public awareness of stellar magnetism through the creation of broadly distributed planetarium content. This show on stellar magnetism may be shown in university planetaria across the nation and at Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Locally, graduate students at UW-Madison will gain new experience in the creation and presentation of visualizations connected with their research. They will gain practical experience in presenting to the general public through collaborations with the Madison Metropolitan School District planetarium and activities at the Space Place in Madison.