A synergetic approach to the study of the Milky Way, its stars and planets using ultra-precise, space-based photometry

CEECIND/00476/2018
Coordination:

Principal Investigator: Tiago Campante

Funding:

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

New insights on stellar interiors physics and evolution are being made possible by asteroseismology, the study of stars by means of their natural oscillations. The future is bright, with NASA’s TESS and ESA’s PLATO space missions promising to raise the number of known oscillating stars by two orders of magnitude. These missions will also be the main target suppliers for ESA’s Ariel, next generation’s exoplanetary atmosphere surveyor. The information contained in stellar oscillations allows fundamental stellar properties (i.e., mass, radius, and age) to be precisely determined. As a result, asteroseismology is having a profound impact on modern astrophysics. Taking advantage of asteroseismology’s pivotal role, further drawing on extensive tests of its accuracy, I will conduct an in-depth study of the occurrence and structure of gas-giant planets as well as of the chemical evolution of the Milky Way. These will constitute key contributions to the fields of stellar physics, exoplanetary science, and Galactic archaeology, respectively. This interdisciplinary project will leverage my leadership roles within TESS, PLATO, and Ariel, taking us one step beyond the state of the art.