Hostname: page-component-cb9f654ff-qc88w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-08-21T19:25:09.380Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Habitable Zone Super-Earths with Non-Stabilised Spectrographs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 April 2014

Duncan J. Wright
Affiliation:
University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia email: duncan.wright@unsw.edu.au
Christopher G. Tinney
Affiliation:
University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia email: duncan.wright@unsw.edu.au
Robert A. Wittenmyer
Affiliation:
University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia email: duncan.wright@unsw.edu.au
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Detecting the small velocity amplitudes (≤ 10 m/s) produced by habitable zone rocky planets around M Dwarfs requires radial velocity precisions of a few m s−1. However, an iodine absorption cell, commonly used as a high precision wavelength reference on non-stabilised spectrographs, is not efficient for very red and faint objects like M Dwarfs. Instead, arc lamps have to be used. With the exception of the ultra-stabilised HARPS spectrograph, achieving ~m s−1 calibration with arc lamps has not been possible because typical spectrographs experience drifts of several hundred m s−1 due to local atmospheric changes in pressure and temperature. We outline and present results from an innovative differential wavelength calibration method that enables ~m s−1 precision from non-stabilised, high-resolution spectrographs. This technique allows the detection of rocky planets with radial velocity amplitudes of a few m s−1.

References

Bonfils, X., Delfosse, X., Udry, S., Forveille, T., Mayor, M., Perrier, C., Bouchy, F., Gillon, M., Lovis, C., Pepe, F., Queloz, D., Santos, N. C., Sgransan, D., & Bertaux, J.-L. 2013, 549, A109Google Scholar
Barnes, J. R., Jenkins, J. S., Jones, H. R. A., Rojo, P., Arriagada, P., Jordn, A., Minniti, D., Tuomi, M., Jeffers, S. V., & Pinfield, D. 2012, MNRAS V. 424, pp. 591604Google Scholar
Bean, Jacob L., Seifahrt, Andreas, Hartman, Henrik, Nilsson, Hampus, Wiedemann, Gnter, Reiners, Ansgar, Dreizler, Stefan, Henry, , & Todd, J. 2010, ApJ V. 713, pp. 410422CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailey, John I. III, White, Russel J., Blake, Cullen H., Charbonneau, Dave Barman, Travis, S., Tanner, Angelle M. & Torres, Guillermo 2012, ApJ V. 749, art. 16CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Redman, Stephen L., Lawler, James E., Nave, Gillian, Ramsey, Lawrence W. & Mahadevan, Suvrath 2011, ApJS V. 195, art. 24CrossRefGoogle Scholar