Target Prioritization and Observing Strategies for the NEID Earth Twin Survey

Abstract

NEID is a high-resolution optical spectrograph on the WIYN 3.5-m telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory and will soon join the new generation of extreme precision radial velocity instruments in operation around the world. We plan to use the instrument to conduct the NEID Earth Twin Survey (NETS) over the course of the next 5 years, collecting hundreds of observations of some of the nearest and brightest stars in an effort to probe the regime of Earth-mass exoplanets. Even if we take advantage of the extreme instrumental precision conferred by NEID, it will remain difficult to disentangle the weak (~10 cm s${}^{-1}$) signals induced by such low-mass, long-period exoplanets from stellar noise for all but the quietest host stars. In this work, we present a set of quantitative selection metrics which we use to identify an initial NETS target list consisting of stars conducive to the detection of exoplanets in the regime of interest. We also outline a set of observing strategies with which we aim to mitigate uncertainty contributions from intrinsic stellar variability and other sources of noise.

arXiv comment19 pages, 10 figures, 1 table

References in corpus (50)

• Array Programming with NumPy
• Astropy: A Community Python Package for Astronomy
• The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite
• A new extensive library of PHOENIX stellar atmospheres and synthetic spectra
• Fast and scalable Gaussian process modeling with applications to astronomical time series
• How to Constrain Your M Dwarf: measuring effective temperature, bolometric luminosity, mass, and radius
• The Occurrence and Mass Distribution of Close-in Super-Earths, Neptunes, and Jupiters
• Stellar Diameters and Temperatures II. Main Sequence K & M Stars
• ESPRESSO@VLT -- On-sky performance and first results
• Planets and Stellar Activity: Hide and Seek in the CoRoT-7 system
• The LCES HIRES/Keck Precision Radial Velocity Exoplanet Survey
• The California Planet Survey I. Four New Giant Exoplanets
• A Gaussian process framework for modelling stellar activity signals in radial velocity data
• State of the Field: Extreme Precision Radial Velocities
• Spectral Properties of Cool Stars: Extended Abundance Analysis of 1617 Planet Search Stars
• Radial Velocity Jitter in Stars from the California and Carnegie Planet Search at Keck Observatory
• High-precision wavelength calibration of astronomical spectrographs with laser frequency combs
• Stellar Activity Masquerading as Planets in the Habitable Zone of the M dwarf Gliese 581
• Planetary detection limits taking into account stellar noise. I. Observational strategies to reduce stellar oscillation and granulation effects
• Limits on Planetary Companions from Doppler Surveys of Nearby Stars
• Detectability of Extrasolar Planets in Radial Velocity Surveys
• Occurrence Rates of Planets orbiting FGK Stars: Combining Kepler DR25, Gaia DR2 and Bayesian Inference
• Measuring precise radial velocities on individual spectral lines. I. Validation of the method and application to mitigate stellar activity
• EXPRES: A Next Generation RV Spectrograph in the Search for Earth-like Worlds
• The HARPS-N Rocky Planet Search I. HD219134b: A transiting rocky planet in a multi-planet system at 6.5 pc from the Sun
• SOPHIE+: First results of an octagonal-section fiber for high-precision radial velocity measurements
• Amplitudes of solar-like oscillations: a new scaling relation
• Oscillation frequencies and mode lifetimes in alpha Centauri A
• Revisiting Proxima with ESPRESSO
• Stellar activity mimics a habitable-zone planet around Kapteyn's star
• Measuring precise radial velocities on individual spectral lines : II. Dependance of stellar activity signal on line depth
• Filtering solar-like oscillations for exoplanet detection in radial velocity observations
• A comprehensive radial velocity error budget for next generation Doppler spectrometers
• HARPS-N Solar Radial-Velocity Variations Are Dominated By Large, Bright Magnetic Regions
• Variability of stellar granulation and convective blueshift with spectral type and magnetic activity. I. K and G main sequence stars
• Insights on the Spectral Signatures of Stellar Activity and Planets from PCA
• New Methods for Finding Activity-Sensitive Spectral Lines: Combined Visual Identification and an Automated Pipeline Find a Set of 40 Activity Indicators
• Astrophysical Insights into Radial Velocity Jitter from an Analysis of 600 Planet-search Stars
• The Changing Face of $\alpha$ Centauri B: Probing plage and stellar activity in K-dwarfs
• Impact of micro-telluric lines on precise radial velocities and its correction
• Toward Extremely Precise Radial Velocities: II. A Tool For Using Multivariate Gaussian Processes to Model Stellar Activity
• Unexpectedly strong effect of supergranulation on the detectability of Earth twins orbiting Sun-like stars with radial velocities
• The correlation between photometric variability and radial velocity jitter, based on TESS and HARPS observations
• Predicting radial-velocity jitter induced by stellar oscillations based on Kepler data
• Empirical Corrections for Charge Transfer Inefficiency and Associated Centroid Shifts for STIS CCD Observations
• Activity time series of old stars from late F to early K. IV. Limits of the correction of radial velocities using chromospheric emission
• The Spectrum of the Night Sky Over Kitt Peak: Changes Over Two Decades
• Solar Contamination in Extreme Precision Radial Velocity Measurements: Deleterious Effects and Prospects for Mitigation
• Techniques for Finding Close-in, Low-mass Planets around Subgiants
• The Effects of Telluric Contamination in Iodine Calibrated Precise Radial Velocities

Cited by in corpus (18)

• YARARA V2: Reaching sub m/s precision over a decade using PCA on line-by-line RVs
• Stellar activity correction using PCA decomposition of shells
• The Demographics of Terrestrial Planets in the Venus Zone
• Searching for Giant Exoplanets around M-dwarf Stars (GEMS) I: Survey Motivation
• Impact of Correlated Noise on the Mass Precision of Earth-analog Planets in Radial Velocity Surveys
• Gaussian processes for radial velocity modeling Better rotation periods and planetary parameters with the quasi-periodic kernel and constrained priors
• Magnitude-squared coherence: A powerful tool for disentangling Doppler planet discoveries from stellar activity
• $\text{GRASS}$: Distinguishing Planet-induced Doppler Signatures from Granulation with a Synthetic Spectra Generator
• Fishing for Planets: A Comparative Analysis of EPRV Survey Performance in the Presence of Correlated Noise
• The death of Vulcan: NEID reveals the planet candidate orbiting HD 26965 is stellar activity
• Detection of p-mode Oscillations in HD 35833 with NEID and TESS
• GRASS II: Simulations of Potential Granulation Noise Mitigation Methods
• The NEID Earth Twin Survey. II. Dynamical Masses in Seven High-acceleration Star Systems
• Quiet Please: Detrending Radial Velocity Variations from Stellar Activity with a Physically Motivated Spot Model
• Using Doppler Imaging to model stellar activity and search for planets around Sun-like stars
• Searching for Low-Mass Exoplanets Amid Stellar Variability with a Fixed Effects Linear Model of Line-by-Line Shape Changes
• The Effects of Sunspots on Spectral Line Shapes in the Visible
• SPORES-HWO. II. Companion Mass Limits and Updated Planet Properties for 120 Future Exoplanet Imaging Targets from 35 yr of Precise Doppler Monitoring