A Planet-Hunting Spectrometer for the Magellan Telescope

Carnegie Institution Of Washington, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

AST-0116529 Butler, Paul A planet-hunting instrument (spectrometer) for the new Southern Hemisphere telescope: Magellan will be built. A high-resolution echelle spectrograph for the southern hemisphere-located Magellan Telescope will be designed, specified, fabricated, assembled and tested. Precision radial velocities will be measured to look for the characteristic signature that indicates small dark bodies (planets) in orbit about a star. This special purpose spectrograph will be able to Doppler velocity changes, at the level of 2 to 4 m/sec. This spectrograph-telescope combination will enable over 1,000. new candidate stars to be examined for orbiting planets and represents the astronomy community's first in-depth survey of those Southern Hemisphere stars not available from Northern Hemisphere telescopes. The telescope/spectrograph system will be available to members of the Magellan community: Harvard, MIT, Michigan, Arizona and Carnegie Observatories. ***