EPSAM

Young Stars in the Solar Neighbourhood

Lead Supervisor:  Prof Rob Jeffries

Nearby (<100 pc), young (<100 Myr) stars are thought to be the products of the dissolution of numerous star forming aggregates or clusters in the near past. They were discovered in the 1990s by virtue of their strong magnetic activity and, in many cases, coherent kinematics. These nearby objects are important test-beds for studying the early evolution of stars and their planetary systems. They are near enough and bright enough to permit detailed chemical studies of their atmospheres; to search for mid-infrared emission from dust and to perform high resolution optical imaging to search for evidence of companions, planets and debris disks.
The project is to use the SuperWASP archive of photometry for bright stars as a means of discovering examples of rapidly rotating stars. These are found by virtue of rotational modulation of starspots. The rapid rotation may be a signature of extreme youth (<100 Myr), however it is also likely that many of these objects are short period, tidally locked binary systems.

A programme of spectroscopy can establish which of these objects are genuinely youthful stars through a combination of their kinematics, radial velocity stability and supporting signs of youth such as the presence of lithium in their atmospheres. Initial spectroscopy has been obtained from the Nordic Optical Telescope and more will be sought at other telescopes in order to mine the untapped riches in the SuperWASP archive. The new young objects will either be assigned to known youthful kinematic groups or may define new groups altogether. In the initial stages of the project we will be refining our knowledge of age indicators for very young stars (rotation, activity, lithium). In the latter stages we also plan to perform high resolution imaging (Gemini/VLT) of the targets to search for close companions, wide giant-planet companions or debris disks.