The Exoplanet Frontiers: A Star Ages and M Star Planets

Georgia State University Research Foundation, Inc., Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

This award will support two projects. The first will determine the ages of relatively hot stars of spectral type A, which have temperatures about twice that of the Sun. This project relies on accurate determination of stellar radii and temperatures, which will permit comparison between luminosities and evolutionary models of the age/luminosity relation. The second project aims to discover planets around cool stars of the M type. The research team will determine accurate positions and radial velocities of these cool stars; the positions and velocities will periodically change if a massive planet is located near the star. The research will increase the number of stars with precisely determined properties, which should be useful for other research groups and for testing stellar evolution theory and ideas about the formation pf planetary systems. The project will support two Ph.D. students through the completion of their dissertations, and will contribute to ongoing efforts in public education and outreach.