Press Release
Friday, June 19, 2020
A NASA Grant for a Research Project by Professor Khalack
Professor Viktor Khalack of the Université de Moncton’s Department of Physics and Astronomy is the principal coresearcher on a research project that received a $50,000 US grant from NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). The project, “RARA AVIS: A Search For M Dwarf Oscillations Using TESS”, studies oscillations in very low-mass stars.
Francis LeBlanc, Associate Vice-President, Research, and Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research at the Université de Moncton, is delighted with the news. “We’re very proud that this research project by Professor Khalack and his team has attracted interest from NASA,” he said. “It’s unarguable proof of the vitality and high quality of the research taking place in our university.”
Dr. Khalack and his colleagues, Daniel Huber of the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii and Sarbani Basu from the Department of Astronomy at Yale University, are carrying out the project with Derek Buzasi, of Florida Gulf Coast University, the principal researcher.
Abstract of the research project:
The research program will be using the observation modes of the TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) space telescope to observe six cold dwarfs (surface temperature of about 3000 °C) in order to estimate more accurately their fundamental parameters (surface temperature, mass, radius and age) and to study their interior using asteroseismology methods. Asteroseismology is the field of astrophysics that studies the oscillations (or vibrations) of stars. Analyzing the oscillation frequencies is an opportunity to study the convective layers inside these stars. Convection is a mode of energy transport by the movement of cells of matter, something that is important in certain stars. The study of convection in cold dwarfs of different ages will lead to a better understanding of their evolution. Their age is comparable to that of our galaxy, and for that reason the research program can also provide data on the evolution of our galaxy. When we consider that the phenomenon of oscillation in cold dwarfs is quite rare, this study could be a major advance in stellar asteroseismology.
NASA’s TESS space telescope has been in orbit since 2018. Professor Khalack’s team was awarded observation time on this telescope after a very competitive selection process.
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