project 4

The Role of Activity & Youth on the MKS-M∗ Relation

This project aims at using Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) to color the HR diagram with rotation periods, H-alpha lines, and S indices of specific binaries to determine if M dwarfs with stronger magnetic fields tend to have different physical properties such as masses and radii than the inactive ones.

This project achieved the following:

  • Measured rotation periods and S indices of 143 binaries.
  • Fitted the position of the binaries using Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) and got their complete orbital information (eg. masses, rotation periods, eccentricities).
  • Colored the HR diagram (mass VS absolute magnitude) using rotation periods, H-alpha lines, and S indices to indicate how strong the stars’ magnetic fields are.

The project poster is available here.

An illustration video (5 mins) is available here.