This award will allow Dr. Kevin Covey to perform the INfrared Survey of Young Nebulous Clusters (IN-SYNC), which is a homogeneous, multi-epoch radial velocity survey of thousands of young stars in nearby clusters. IN-SYNC uses data from the Apachee Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), as well as the Immersion Grating INfrared Spectrometer (IGRINS), in order to answer three questions:
1) How do star clusters form? 2) What is the frequency of close binaries in young clusters? 3) What are the detailed stellar properties of pre-main sequence spectroscopic binaries?
The PI will also integrate his research and education programs by engaging citizen scientists through the Lowell Amateur Research Initiative (LARI). He will initially work with amateur astronomers to monitor variable young stars, which will provide valuable data for peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Covey will subsequently expand his program by directly connecting LARI participants to data from the robotic telescopes from Lowell Observatory.
Since star clusters are invaluable astrophysical laboratories, this work will provide unique tracers of the Milky Way's chemical evolution and star formation history, as well as enable stringent tests of stellar evolution models. Through the LARI initiative, this work will also result in increased public scientific literacy, as well as inform a new generation of citizen-science projects.
