Discovery of New Small, Cool Planets Orbiting M-Dwarf Stars

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

The coolest and oldest stars are known as the M dwarf stars. Because they are cooler, they could have many Earth-sized planets around them that have the means of hosting life. The investigators will combine observations from the Kepler spacecraft mission "K2", and from telescopes on the Earth, to make the largest-known sample of planets around M dwarf stars. They will measure the number and characteristics of planets that occur for different types of stars, and find and confirm planets that could host life as we understand it. These planets then become targets for future space telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope to study further in depth. This research serves the national interest by expanding our scientific knowledge about extrasolar planets that could host life. The investigators will work with Tucson's Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium to engage the community on the discovery and study of extrasolar planets, including supporting field trips by local, underserved student populations. M dwarf stars offer the best prospects for finding rocky, Earth-sized, potentially habitable planets, and for studying their frequency of occurrence and their characteristics. These goals, however, remain mostly unrealized because past surveys have largely overlooked M dwarf stars in favor of solar-like stars. This research will support previous highly-successful surveys with the extended Kepler spacecraft mission K2, and key ground-based telescopic support facilities, to produce the largest known sample of planets around M stars. The investigators will measure planet occurrence frequency as a function of stellar and planetary properties; fill key gaps in formation models of low-mass systems; find potentially habitable planets; and find attractive targets for atmospheric characterization with the future James Webb Space Telescope. After K2 data are released, the investigators will extract photometry, identify and validate planet candidates. They then acquire follow-up imaging and spectroscopy to identify false positives, classify stars, and validate planets. The combination of K2 light curves, reconnaissance spectra, and radial velocity data determine precise stellar and planetary parameters. Finally, a global synthesis of all data measures the survey completeness and global occurrence rate of planets around M dwarf stars, including the frequency of habitable, rocky planets. The investigators will partner with Tucson's Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium to engage the community on the discovery and study of extrasolar planets, including supporting field trips by local, underserved student populations. 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.