Benjamin Dean Lecture: Your Map to the Stars --- Exploring the Sun's Neighborhood

Who are our neighbors? Since 1994, (RECONS) Research Consortium On Nearby Stars www.recons.org has been spying on the several hundred nearest stars, both old friends and new members of the neighborhood. Dr. Henry will describe the latest comprehensive census of stars, brown dwarfs, and planets closer than 10 parsecs (about 33 light years). The surprising result is just how many small, red neighbors are lurking near the Sun. Some of these are even orbited by planets. There are also other dark, hidden companions that have, so far, eluded full detection --- just what are they?

Speaker: Dr. Todd J. Henry, Director, RECONS, Professor of Astronomy at Georgia State University