THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO VASTLY IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF TIDAL DISSIPATION OF SUN-LIKE STARS BY APPLYING A SINGLE AND COMPREHENSIVE FORMALISM TO ANALYZE FIVE DIFFERENT TYPES OF OBSERVATIONS RELEVANT TO THIS PROBLEM. SIGNATURES OF TIDAL EVOLUTION ARE VISIBLE THROUGHOUT THE KNOWN EXOPLANET SYSTEMS AND TIDES ARE THOUGHT TO PLAY CRUCIAL ROLE IN THE FORMATION OF HOT JUPITERS (HJS). HOWEVER POOR CONSTRAINTS ON THE TIDAL DISSIPATION IN EXOPLANET HOST STARS ARE CURRENTLY THE BIGGEST OBSTACLE TO MODELLING AND UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESSES INVOLVED. OUR PROPOSAL AIMS TO REMOVE THIS OBSTACLE THEREBY ENABLING A MUCH IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF THE FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF EXOPLANETARY SYSTEMS. TIDAL DISSIPATION RESULTS IN ORBITAL CIRCULARIZATION AND DECAY AS WELL AS CHANGES IN STELLAR SPINS. THE RATES OF THESE PROCESSES DEPEND ON THE DAMPING RATES OF TIDAL DISTORTIONS PARAMETRIZED AS A QUALITY FACTOR: Q*. PRIOR EFFORTS HAVE ASSUMED A SINGLE Q* VALUE APPLIES TO ALL SUN-LIKE STARS FREQUENCIES AND AMPLITUDES OF THE TIDAL FORCING. THIS HAS LED TO CONTRADICTORY RESULTS WITH ESTIMATES OF Q* DIFFERING BY SEVERAL ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE. WE WILL INSTEAD MEASURE Q* FOR A WIDE RANGE OF INDIVIDUAL SYSTEMS TAKING INTO ACCOUNT EACH SYSTEM'S EVOLUTION IN DETAIL LEADING TO A RELIABLE DETERMINATION OF Q* AND ITS DEPENDENCE ON SYSTEM PROPERTIES. IN ORDER TO PROBE TIDAL DISSIPATION IN A WIDE RANGE OF REGIMES AND TO PROVIDE A COMPREHENSIVE AND CONSISTENT CHARACTERIZATION OF IT WE WILL USE THE FOLLOWING DATASETS THAT PROBE ALL THREE OF THE OBSERVABLE EFFECTS OF TIDAL DISSIPATION WITH INDEPENDENT METHODS SERVING AS CRUCIAL CROSS-CHECKS TO EACH OTHER: 1. THE HOSTS OF THE HOTTEST EXOPLANETS SHOW SIGNS OF BEING TIDALLY SPUN-UP WHICH CAN BE USED TO INDIRECTLY MEASURE Q*. THIS METHOD IS REMARKABLY INSENSITIVE TO THE INITIAL CONDITIONS OR THE SPIN-DOWN MODEL FOR THE STAR. AS A RESULT EACH PLANET-STAR SYSTEM PRODUCES AN INDEPENDENT MEASUREMENT OF Q* MUCH TIGHTER THAN CURRENT UNCERTAINTIES. A PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS SUGGESTS A COHERENT PICTURE OF A FREQUENCY DEPENDENT Q* CONSISTENT WITH THE OTHER APPROACHES OUTLINED IN THIS PROPOSAL. IN PARTICULAR OUR RESULTS APPEAR TO RECONCILE SEEMINGLY INCONSISTENT MEASUREMENTS THE LITERATURE AND PROVIDE A NATURAL EXPLANATION FOR THE OBLIQUITY DISTRIBUTION OF HJS. WE PROPOSE TO CARRY OUT A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF ALL HJ SYSTEMS TO CONFIRM THIS PRELIMINARY FINDING TO PROVIDE TIGHT CONSTRAINTS ON THE PERIOD DEPENDENCE OF Q* AND TO TEST FOR DEPENDENCE ON OTHER PARAMETERS SUCH AS THE STELLAR SPIN OR MASS. 2. THE SAME ANALYSIS WILL BE EXTENDED TO SHORT-PERIOD BINARY STARS IN OPEN CLUSTERS. BECAUSE OF THE STRONGER TIDES IN THIS CASE TIGHT CONSTRAINTS ON Q* WILL BE POSSIBLE OUT TO MUCH LONGER ORBITAL PERIODS DRAMATICALLY EXPANDING THE RANGE OF FREQUENCIES PROBED BY THIS STUDY. MUCH SIMPLER ANALYSES HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED IN THE LITERATURE. HOWEVER THE SIMPLIFIED TREATMENT LEAD TO INCONSISTENT RESULTS PREVENTING DRAWING ANY CONCLUSIONS ABOUT Q*. WE SHOW THAT OUR APPROACH RESOLVES THE DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED. 3. IN PREVIOUS WORK WE HAVE SHOWN THAT THE TIME LEFT BEFORE PLANETS TIDALLY SPIRAL INTO THEIR STAR CAN MEANINGFULLY CONSTRAIN Q*. SINCE THEN MANY SHORT PERIOD SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED AND THE OBSERVATIONAL BIASES OF THE FINDING THESE PLANETS HAVE BEEN BETTER CHARACTERIZED. WE PROPOSE TO CARRY OUT A VASTLY IMPROVED ANALYSIS OF THESE DATA. 4. TRENDS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED IN THE OBSERVED OBLIQUITIES OF STAR-PLANET SYSTEMS SUGGESTIVE OF TIDAL DISSIPATION EFFECTS. WE WILL APPLY OUR FORMALISM TO THESE SYSTEMS TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE TIDAL RE-ALIGNMENT OF ORBITS CAN EXPLAIN THE OBSERVATIONS AND IF SO TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL CONSTRAINTS ON Q*. 5. THE ECCENTRICITY-PERIOD DISTRIBUTION OF HUNDREDS OF OPEN CLUSTER BINARIES WITH WELL DETERMINED ORBITS WILL ALSO BE USED TO CONSTRAIN Q*. WE WILL DRAMATICALLY IMPROVE ON PRIOR ANALYSES RESULTING IN MUCH CLEANER AND TIGHTER CONSTRAINTS.