First Results from the POKEMON Speckle Survey of Nearby M-dwarfs

We present the first results from the POKEMON (Pervasive Overview of Kompanions of Every M-dwarf in Our Neighborhood) survey, the largest speckle survey of stellar multiplicity ever produced for the objects that comprise over 70% of the stars in our galaxy: the M-dwarfs. We have conducted a volume-limited survey through M9 that inspected, at diffraction-limited resolution, every M-dwarf out to 15pc, with additional brighter targets to 25pc. POKEMON utilized the Differential Speckle Survey Instrument (DSSI) at the 4.3m Lowell Discovery Telescope, along with the NN-Explore Exoplanet Stellar Speckle Imager (NESSI) on the 3.5-m WIYN telescope. We report the discovery of 30+ new companions to these nearby M-dwarfs. Given the priority these targets have for exoplanet studies with TESS, and in the future JWST – and the degree to which initially undetected multiplicity has skewed Kepler results – a comprehensive survey of our nearby low-mass neighbors provides a homogeneous, complete catalog of fundamental utility. Prior knowledge of secondary objects – or robust non-detections, as captured by this survey – immediately clarify the nature of exoplanet transit detections from these current and upcoming missions.