HARPS-N OBSERVES THE SUN AS A STAR
- Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
- Observatoire Astronomique de l’Université de Genève, 51 Chemin des Maillettes, 1290 Sauverny (Switzerland)
- SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St. Andrews, North Haugh, St. Andrews, Fife, KY16 9SS (United Kingdom)
- INAF—Fundación Galileo Galilei, Rambla José Ana Fernández Pérez 7, E-38712 Breña Baja (Spain)
Radial velocity (RV) perturbations induced by stellar surface inhomogeneities including spots, plages and granules currently limit the detection of Earth-twins using Doppler spectroscopy. Such stellar noise is poorly understood for stars other than the Sun because their surface is unresolved. In particular, the effects of stellar surface inhomogeneities on observed stellar radial velocities are extremely difficult to characterize, and thus developing optimal correction techniques to extract true stellar radial velocities is extremely challenging. In this paper, we present preliminary results of a solar telescope built to feed full-disk sunlight into the HARPS-N spectrograph, which is in turn calibrated with an astro-comb. This setup enables long-term observation of the Sun as a star with state-of-the-art sensitivity to RV changes. Over seven days of observing in 2014, we show an average 50 cm s{sup −1} RV rms over a few hours of observation. After correcting observed radial velocities for spot and plage perturbations using full-disk photometry of the Sun, we lower by a factor of two the weekly RV rms to 60 cm s{sup −1}. The solar telescope is now entering routine operation, and will observe the Sun every clear day for several hours. We will use these radial velocities combined with data from solar satellites to improve our understanding of stellar noise and develop optimal correction methods. If successful, these new methods should enable the detection of Venus over the next two to three years, thus demonstrating the possibility of detecting Earth-twins around other solar-like stars using the RV technique.
- OSTI ID:
- 22518673
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 814, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Sub-m s−1 upper limits from a deep HARPS-N radial-velocity search for planets orbiting HD 166620 and HD 144579
CHARACTERIZATION OF A SPURIOUS ONE-YEAR SIGNAL IN HARPS DATA