A Compact Spectrograph to Search for Extrasolar Planets

Abstract

The most successful method used so far to search for extrasolar planets is the radial velocity technique, where periodical shifts on the measured emission from a star provide evidence for an orbiting planet. This method has been used on large telescopes with large and expensive instrumentation, only enabling a small amount of observing time per star. We have developed a compact spectrograph fed by one or several single-mode fibres that avoids the need for complex fibre scrambling or gas absorption cells for calibration. In principle, this will enable planet searches around bright stars over the next few years. We aim to pave the way for large networks of small telescopes searching for Earth-like planets. At a resolving power of R~50000, I have characterized this spectrograph, determined its stability and the fidelity required for a simultaneous calibration source.

Honours Thesis

References in corpus (7)

• Direct Imaging of Multiple Planets Orbiting the Star HR 8799
• The New Galaxy: Signatures of its Formation
• Planetary Candidates Observed by Kepler, III: Analysis of the First 16 Months of Data
• Optical Images of an Exosolar Planet 25 Light Years from Earth
• Kepler-47: A Transiting Circumbinary Multi-Planet System
• Solar-like Oscillations (Invited Review)
• P-mode observations on Alpha Cen A