One Little Telescope, So Many Stars (Abstract)

Volume 36 number 1 (2008)

Jaymie Matthews

Abstract

(Abstract only) This meeting coincides with a Canadian space astronomy milestone, marking four years that the MOST space telescope has been in orbit. In that time, MOST has more than lived up to its acronym by making major discoveries through ultraprecise photometry of the Microvariability and Oscillations of STars. Hundreds of stars. MOST has discovered new classes of pulsating stars among the hot massive B stars and nonradial oscillations in red giants which challenge theoretical expectations. By monitoring the acoustic beats of pre-main sequence stars, MOST is literally performing “ultrasound” on stellar embryos to test our models of star formation. MOST has measured the surface rotation profile of a young solar-type star, giving insights into what the magnetic field and spot activity of our own Sun may have been like when life first appeared on Earth. MOST asteroseismology of magnetic stars has resulted in the first direct tests of how magnetic fields interact with the stellar plasma, making such stars as magnetohydrodynamic laboratories. MOST measurements of the optical eclipse of an extrasolar planet lead to the albedo of a “hot Jupiter” and an understanding of its atmosphere, clouds, and even weather. MOST has begun the search for Earth-mass and -size planets around other stars. Not bad for a mission that was intended to last one year and study ten stars.