Poster Abstracts

Name/Affiliation:  Adric Riedel (CUNY-Hunter College)

Title:  The Triumphs and Perils of Young Star Kinematics

Abstract:
Kinematics are a commonly used tool in the toolkit of cool star researchers looking for young objects. It is a useful tool, relying on positions, proper motions, parallaxes, and radial velocities; all readily available in the modern age of Hipparcos and high precision spectroscopy. As we prepare to take a leap into the revolutionary new world of Gaia astrometry, it is important to consider both the power and the limitations of what we can do with kinematics, and what Gaia will make possible. I will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the currently used kinematic implementations and the prospects for using more advanced techniques like kinematic tracebacks to increase our knowledge of stars, the nearby young moving groups themselves, and the characteristics of the gas clouds that formed them.