The Second Workshop on Measuring Precise Radial Velocities

Yale University, New Haven CT

Investigators

Abstract

This award funds travel support and stipends for 21 participants, mainly early-career researchers, to attend "The Second Workshop on Measuring Precise Radial Velocities," which will take place July 6-8, 2015 at Yale University, New Haven, CT. The workshop will provide a unique opportunity to gather scientists with a broad range of specialized expertise to reflect on both the big picture and the details at every level of searches for extrasolar planets using the Doppler Radial Velocity technique. Succeeding in this effort will require significant improvements to spectrometer capabilities in order to detect the very small gravitational pulls of such small planets on their host stars. The workshop will document the established state of the art Doppler precision from various facilities, assess different spectrometer designs and the scientific analysis for recent results, and discuss methods for assessing the statistical significance of weak detections.