THE K2 MISSION O_ERS THE OPPORTUNITY TO MONITOR TENS-OF-THOUSANDS OF NEARBY LOW-MASS M DWARFS WITH PRECISE LONG-CADENCE PHOTOMETRY; AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE INCREASE OVER THE 3900 OBSERVED BY KEPLER. THESE SMALL STARS PROVIDE THE HIGHEST PROBABILITY OF DETECTING SMALL TRANSITING PLANETS (_0.5 { 4 R_) BY VIRTUE OF THE RELATIVELY LARGE TRANSIT DEPTHS. SUCH DEEP TRANSITS ALSO INCREASE THE POTENTIAL FOR SUBSEQUENT ATMOSPHERIC CHARACTERIZATION. OUR K2 M DWARF PROGRAM (K2-MDP) IS ALREADY DISCOVERING AND CHARACTERIZING MANY NEW M DWARF PLANETARY SYSTEMS. HERE WE PROPOSE LONG-CADENCE TARGETS FOR FIELDS 8 AND 10 WHICH HAVE MINIMAL CROWDING AND PROVIDE EXCELLENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR SMALL-PLANET SMALL-STAR SCIENCE. OUR TARGET LIST INCLUDES 5341 LIKELY M DWARFS WITH KP=8.0{16.5 AROUND WHICH WE ANTICIPATE _40 PLANETS (CONSISTENT WITH THE SYSTEMS WE ARE ALREADY FOLLOWING UP IN FIELDS 1 AND 2). OUR SAMPLE WILL INCLUDE NEW POPULATIONS OF ROCKY AND POTENTIALLY HABITABLE PLANETS AND LARGER SUB-NEPTUNES THAT ARE AMENABLE TO TRANSIT SPECTROSCOPY. ONLY K2 CAN DISCOVER THESE EXCITING SYS- TEMS IN TIME FOR GTO AND CYCLE 1 JWST OBSERVATIONS. OUR DISCOVERY OF K2-3BCD A SYSTEM OF THREE SUPER-EARTHS TRANSITING A NEARBY BRIGHT M DWARF (CROSS_ELD ET AL. 2015) IS JUST THE _RST OF MANY SUCH DISCOVERIES OUR PROGRAM WILL PRODUCE; WE ARE ALREADY OBSERVING AND CHARACTERIZING DOZENS OF M DWARF SYSTEMS DISCOVERED IN FIELDS 1 AND 2 (FIG. 1). OUR PROGRAM WILL: 1. DRAMATICALLY INCREASE THE NUMBER OF KNOWN M DWARF PLANETARY SYSTEMS; 2. IDENTIFY NEW HABITABLE ZONE PLANETS AND IDEAL TARGETS FOR JWST SPECTROSCOPY. 3. ESTIMATE PHYSICAL PARAMETERS AND AGES FOR THESE STARS AND THEIR PLANETS.
$75,354FY2017National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA
University Of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz CA