Program: GS-2021A-Q-135

We propose to use 'Alopeke and Zorro on Gemini-North and -South to continue our search of the nearest 1120 M dwarfs for stellar companions at separations on Solar System scales. Speckle imaging on Gemini is able to detect stellar companions with separations smaller than that of the Sun to Mercury for stars within 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 preferred by M dwarf multiple systems, and which stars orbit one another in such configurations that thwart the formation of planets.