TY - GEN
T1 - Habitable worlds around M dwarf stars
T2 - The CAPSCam astrometric planet search
AU - Boss, Alan P.
AU - Weinberger, Alycia J.
AU - Anglada-Escudé, Guillem
AU - Thompson, Ian B.
AU - Brahm, Rafael
PY - 2012/8
Y1 - 2012/8
N2 - M dwarf stars are attractive targets in the search for habitable worlds as a result of their relative abundance and proximity, making them likely targets for future direct detection efforts. Hot super-Earths as well as gas giants have already been detected around a number of early M dwarfs, and the former appear to be the high-mass end of the population of rocky, terrestrial exoplanets. The Carnegie Astrometric Planet Search (CAPS) program has been underway since March 2007, searching ~ 100 nearby late M, L, and T dwarfs for gas giant planets on orbits wide enough for habitable worlds to orbit interior to them. The CAPSCam-N camera on the 2.5-m du Pont telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory has demonstrated the ability to detect planets as low in mass as Saturn orbiting at several AU around late M dwarfs within 15 pc. Over the next decade, the CAPS program will provide new constraints on the planetary census around late M dwarf stars, and hence on the suitability of these nearby planetary systems for supporting life.
AB - M dwarf stars are attractive targets in the search for habitable worlds as a result of their relative abundance and proximity, making them likely targets for future direct detection efforts. Hot super-Earths as well as gas giants have already been detected around a number of early M dwarfs, and the former appear to be the high-mass end of the population of rocky, terrestrial exoplanets. The Carnegie Astrometric Planet Search (CAPS) program has been underway since March 2007, searching ~ 100 nearby late M, L, and T dwarfs for gas giant planets on orbits wide enough for habitable worlds to orbit interior to them. The CAPSCam-N camera on the 2.5-m du Pont telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory has demonstrated the ability to detect planets as low in mass as Saturn orbiting at several AU around late M dwarfs within 15 pc. Over the next decade, the CAPS program will provide new constraints on the planetary census around late M dwarf stars, and hence on the suitability of these nearby planetary systems for supporting life.
KW - astrometry
KW - brown dwarfs
KW - planetary systems
KW - planetary systems: formation
KW - stars: low-mass
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84899891550
U2 - 10.1017/S1743921313012799
DO - 10.1017/S1743921313012799
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84899891550
SN - 9781107033825
T3 - Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union
SP - 183
EP - 188
BT - Formation, Detection, and Characterization of Extrasolar Habitable Planets
PB - Cambridge University Press
ER -