The Relation Between Metallicity and Rotation Period for M-dwarfs in the MEarth Sample.

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

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Scientific paper

M dwarfs are the most promising candidates around which to find habitable, Earth-sized planets amenable to detailed spectroscopic study of their atmospheres by transmission or occultation methods. This is possible using instrumentation available presently and in the near future. A correlation between stellar metallicity and planet occurrence has been demonstrated for F, G and K stars, with exoplanet detections rising sharply above solar metallicity. Recent results indicate that this relation may also hold for M-type stars; if correct, we would be able to increase the yield of planet surveys by targeting metal-rich stars. The MEarth Project is a transiting planet survey that is photometrically monitoring 2000 of the nearest M dwarfs in the northern sky and which will expand in the next year to include an additional 2000 stars in the southern hemisphere. We aim to measure the metallicities of this sample using a new method pioneered by Rojas-Ayala et al. (2010) that uses moderate resolution near-infrared spectra. Here, we present a study of 140 mid to late M dwarfs observed with IRTF, including 60 for which we have measured rotation periods. Included in this sample is a subset of the 850 stars around which MEarth has searched for planets. We will discuss the physical properties of stars observed to date and prospects for front-loading the MEarth target list with metal-rich stars.

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