Program: GN-2021B-Q-229

Title:Searching the Nearby M Dwarfs for Stellar Companions at Solar System Separations
PI:Jennifer Winters
Co-I(s): Elliott Horch, Todd Henry, Dana Casetti

Abstract

We propose to use 'Alopeke and Zorro on Gemini-N and -S to continue our survey of 1120 of the nearest M dwarfs to reveal stellar companions at separations on Solar System scales. Speckle imaging on Gemini is able to detect companions with separations smaller than the Sun to Mercury for stars out to 25 pc. The resulting portrait of single and multiple M dwarf systems will constrain models of binary star formation processes for the most common stars in the Galaxy. Ultimately, we will determine the separations and mass ratios that M dwarf multiple systems prefer, and which stars orbit one another in such configurations that thwart the formation of planets.