Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
May 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21832813t&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #218, #328.13; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Scientific paper
In 1999, RECONS (Research Consortium on Nearby Stars) began gathering astrometric data using the CTIO 0.9m under the auspices of the NOAO Surveys Program. In 2003, SMARTS began operating the 0.9m and the program continued, with an enhanced ability to acquire long-term astrometric series on the nearest stars. With over a decade of milli-arcsecond astrometry for hundreds of red dwarfs within 25 pc, we now have a rich dataset in which to search for previously unknown stellar, substellar, and planetary companions. We can also use our data to better constrain the orbits of known binaries to reduce their mass errors to less than a few percent, and consequently test astrophysical models as never before.
Here we present our orbit fitting analysis of M dwarfs that show clear evidence of gravitational perturbations due to unseen companions, after solving for their proper motion and parallax signals. We show discoveries such as LHS 3738AB, found for the first time to have a low mass binary companion with an astrometric orbit mapped completely during our program. We also provide a reliable assessment of our analysis techniques using systems such as GJ 748 AB, which has a precise orbit determined using the Fine Guidance Sensors on HST. Upon completion, this rich set of astrometric data will be used to determine the multiplicity, orbital separations and mass distribution of nearby M dwarfs, which have far-reaching implications about multiple star, brown dwarf, and planetary system formation processes.
This work has been supported by the National Science Foundation (AST 05-07711 and 09-08402), NASA's Space Interferometry Mission, Georgia State University, and Northern Arizona University.
Catanzarite Joe
Henry Thomas
Koerner David
RECONS Team
Tanner Angelle M.
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