The purpose of RECONS is to understand the nature of the Sun's nearest stellar neighbors, both individually and as a population. Our goals are to discover ``missing'' members of the sample of stars within 10 parsecs (32.6 light years), and to characterize all stars within that distance limit. New members are found via astrometric, photometric, and spectroscopic techniques, or through companionship studies at small and large separations. Characterization includes photometry and spectroscopy at both optical and infrared wavelengths, as well as determinations of the luminosity function, mass function, and multiplicity fraction of the nearby stars.

Research Programs

CTIOPI Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory Parallax Investigation
ASPENS Astrometric Search for Planets Encircling Nearby Stars
MASSIF Masses and Stellar Systems with Interferometry
SMARTS Small and Moderate Aperture Research Telescope System
NSTARS Nearby Stars Project

Senior Personnel

RECONS Postdocs (present)

RECONS Graduate Students (present)

RECONS Undergraduate Students (present)

Additional Personnel (past)

RECONS Scientific Resources

  • Figure of The Nearest 25 Stellar Systems
  • Estimated Number of Systems Missing from the 10 Parsec Sample
  • Parallax Errors for Systems within 10 Parsecs
  • Proper Motions for Systems within 10 Parsecs
    •

    Related Links

  • NStars (Nearby Stars) Database

    • The RECONS "logo" image is an infrared picture of the Alpha Centauri system taken while observing the at the Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory near La Serena, Chile. The mirror covers at the 1.5m telescope were partially closed, causing the diffraction effects seen for each of the two stars, Alpha Centauri A and B. These two stars and Proxima Centauri (beyond the field of view) comprise the nearest stellar system to the Sun, which is, in fact, a triple star system.

    last update 17 May 2004