BU Today– Searching for Life around the Stars
In a recent article from BU Today, IAR graduate student Mark Veyette discusses running computer models of M dwarfs through the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center (MGHPCC) in Holyoke, MA and his research with Rich Barlow.
‘To the epic search for life on other planets, Mark Veyette brings some of science’s most formidable technology: 300-pound infrared telescopes in Hawaii. The supercomputer center BU helped create in Holyoke, Mass.
And his cell phone.
Explanation to come about how that last one aids Veyette’s research into M dwarf stars, the most common star type in our galaxy. M dwarfs are smaller, cooler, and fainter than the sun, and Veyette (GRS’15,’19) is trying to determine their chemical composition and that of their atmospheres. This, in turn, could shed light on the composition of the dwarfs’ orbiting planets—hinting at whether those planets could sustain life.’
Read the rest of the article here: http://www.bu.edu/today/2017/m-dwarf-stars/