SNEAK: Searching for Nearby Exoplanets Around K-dwarfs with NEID

K-dwarfs make up ~12% of stars in the solar neighborhood and offer many benefits when it comes to RV detectability, future planetary characterization, and potential habitability. However, they often fall in an awkward middle ground in exoplanet surveys, which tend to focus on the brighter and more Sun-like G-dwarfs, or the M-dwarfs where transit and RV signals are largest. NEID is particularly suited to searching for small planets around K-dwarfs due to its improved instrumental precision and its extended red-optical wavelength range.

We present SNEAK, the Search for Nearby Exoplanets Around K-dwarfs, an ongoing blind RV search focused on nearby (d < 20 pc) mid/late K-dwarfs and designed to supplement the NEID GTO. Here we discuss survey design and target selection, as well as the status of the survey after the first several months.