Spitzer Space Telescope - General Observer Proposal #20463


A Search for Warm Dust in the Habitable Zones Around Solar-Type Stars

Principal Investigator: David Ciardi
           Institution: Michelson Science Center

Co-Investigators: 
Charles Beichman, MSC/Caltech                                         
Angelle Tanner, JPL                                                   
Geoff Bryden, JPL                                                     
Karl Stapelfeldt, JPL                                                 
David Harker, UCSD                                                    
Rachel Akeson, MSC/Caltech                                            

Science Category: circumstellar/debris disks 
 Observing Modes: IrsStare 
  Hours Approved: 68.0 

Abstract:
Spitzer is uniquely positioned to characterize the evolution, amount,
structure and composition of the warm dust located within the
habitable zones around many types of stars.  We propose to observe 152
FGKM stars within 25 pc of the Sun to address the frequency, amount,
and properties of warm dust located within the habitable zones around
solar-like stars.  IRS 7 - 35 um observations will be used to detect
the presence of warm dust beyond the detection capabilities of MIPS at
24 um,and provide detailed information about the mass, size,
distribution, and mineralogy of the warm dust located within a few AU
of the stars.  The proposed survey is complementary to the other
current and proposed Spitzer surveys.  In addition, the proposed
observations lay the foundations for future studies with the Keck
Interferometer and for understanding the influence of the exozodiacal
emission in potential TPF targets.