First Stellar Radial Velocities with a Laser Frequency Comb: Observations in the NIR H Band
Abstract
Advances in high precision radial velocity spectroscopy have been hindered by the lack of suitable wavelength references. This has been especially the case in the infrared where until recently radial velocity precision has been limited to 50-100m/s, hindering investigations such as the search for extrasolar planets orbiting cooler M stars at these wavelengths. To redress deficiency this we have developed a 25GHz laser frequency comb spanning the H band and suitable for use with spectrographs with spectral resolution in the range of 40,000 - 60,000, with RV precision limited by instrument stability and object S/N rather than by the lack of a suitable wavelength standard.
We will present CU/NIST frequency comb performance and results obtained using the Pennsylvania State University's Pathfinder Spectrograph on the Hobby Eberly Telescope and will discuss lessons learned.- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #217
- Pub Date:
- January 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011AAS...21740102O