Abstract
This 5-year project intends to apply high precision spectroscopy to study important problems in exoplanet science, stellar astrophysics and the Galaxy. Stars will be characterized using the line-by-line differential technique, in order to obtain precise chemical abundances with small errors of 0.01 - 0.02 in solar-metallicity stellar twins, or about 0.03 - 0.05 dex in metal-poor stars. Furthermore, our technique will provide high precision stellar parameters, which are important for the determination of precise differential masses and ages. Our high precision chemical abundances will be useful to study how the chemical elements evolved from a purely primordial Big Bang composition to a metal-enriched Milky Way populated with planets like our own. We will also search for exoplanets using ultra-precise radial velocities (20 cm s-1 to 1 m s-1), with existing facilities and also new spectrographs such as SORCERESS, for which we are requesting partial funding. We will make important efforts to model stellar activity, both to understand how magnetic activity evolves in stars, but also because the stellar activity "noise" limits our ability to detect small planets. The precise parameters and chemical composition of stellar twins and binaries will be key to study in detail the connection between stars and planet formation and evolution. Finally, we will study how the stellar composition is related to the composition of exoplanet atmospheres, by characterizing stars with transiting planets and also studying their planetary atmospheres using ground-based and future space-based missions. (AU)
| Articles published in Pesquisa FAPESP Magazine about the research grant: |
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