Wobbling stars reveal their hidden companions. This project aims to measure the wobble in the position of distant stars that is caused by massive objects, using telescopes in space. This project expec

Description

Wobbling stars reveal their hidden companions. This project aims to measure the wobble in the position of distant stars that is caused by massive objects, using telescopes in space. This project expects to generate new knowledge on how binary stars, exoplanets, and stellar mass black holes are formed. Expected outcomes of this project include tight constraints on binary star models, new discoveries of neutron stars and black holes that are a few times more massive than the Sun, and samples of stars that do, and do not, host exoplanets. This should provide significant benefits including a catalogue of companion properties for billions of sources, new understanding of how stars die, as well as the first control sample of stars without planets to help understand how and why planets form.. Scheme: Discovery Projects. Field: 0201 - Astronomical and Space Sciences. Lead: A/Prof Andrew Casey