Stellar properties & RV variability for M-dwarfs

The core accretion model predicts that giant planets cannot form around low-mass M-dwarfs, although this idea has been challenged by recent planet discoveries. Here, we investigate the occurrence rate of giant planets around low-mass (0.1-0.3M{sun}) M-dwarfs.

We monitor a volume-complete, inactive sample of 200 such stars located within 15pc, collecting four high-resolution spectra of each M-dwarf over six years and performing intensive follow-up monitoring of two candidate radial velocity variables. We use TRES on the 1.5m telescope at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory and CHIRON on the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory 1.5m telescope for our primary campaign, and MAROON-X on Gemini-North for high-precision follow up.