THE PRIMARY GOAL OF THE PROJECT IS TO USE TESS FULL-FRAME IMAGES (FFI) TO MEASURE ROTATION PERIODS (PROT) FOR STARS IN SIX YOUNG OPEN CLUSTERS IN THE SOUTHERN SKY. AS SOLAR-TYPE STARS APPROACH THE MAIN SEQUENCE THEY CONTRACT AND SPIN MORE RAPIDLY ONCE THEY REACH THE MAIN SEQUENCE THEY STOP CONTRACTING AND THEIR SPIN SPEED DECREASES. THIS SPIN-DOWN IS THOUGHT TO BE CAUSED BY ANGULAR MOMENTUM LOST VIA STELLAR WINDS BUT THERE ARE CURRENTLY NO CONSTRAINTS ON MODEL BEHAVIOR AT THIS CRITICAL AGE. THE PROT MEASUREMENTS FROM THIS PROJECT WILL BE USED TO CONSTRAIN FOR THE _RST TIME ANGULAR MOMENTUM EVOLUTION IN SOLAR-TYPE STARS BETWEEN 20{60 MYR. AN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA JOSE PEREZ CHAVEZ BEGAN WORKING ON THIS PROJECT DURING SUMMER 2019. OVER THE SUMMER PEREZ CHAVEZ WAS FUNDED BY THE BANNEKER INSTITUTE AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY AND HE WAS FUNDED FOR 3 MONTHS IN THE WINTER BY THIS GUEST INVESTIGATOR GRANT. SO FAR HE HAS EXTRACTED LIGHT CURVES FROM TESS FFI DATA PERFORMED BACKGROUND SUBTRACTION TO CORRECT FOR SYSTEMATIC TRENDS IN THE LIGHT CURVES AND ANAYZED SOURCES OF NOISE IN THE LIGHT CURVES. PEREZ CHAVEZ HAS SUCCESSFULLY MEASURED ROTATION PERIODS FOR STARS IN ONE CLUSTER IC 2391 USING ONLY TESS SECTOR 8 DATA.
$31,869FY2021National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA
Lafayette College, Easton PA