Friday, June 13 - Plenary Session

Name:  Tabetha Boyajian

Affiliation:  Yale

Title:  Size Matters

Abstract:
This presentation will review the status of our survey to measure the fundamental properties of nearby, main-sequence, K- and M- type stars. Our method exploits high angular resolution observations available from long baseline optical/infrared interferometry to precisely measure angular sizes. This data, combined with parallaxes and flux-calibrated photometry, are used to determine stellar luminosities, linear radii, and effective temperatures. We demonstrate how the data are used to calibrate less-direct methods in determining fundamental stellar properties. The data are also used to identify weaknesses in stellar atmosphere and evolutionary modeling, where observed discrepancies with models compared to observations have implications for the characterization of exoplanet systems. http://goo.gl/rwShmX