A Y+J Band Laser Frequency Comb for the Habitable Zone Planet Finder
Abstract
The Habitable Zone Planet Finder (HPF) scheduled for deployment to the Hobby-Eberly Telescope in late 2015 will extend the radial velocity search for exoplanets into the near infrared by providing a high precision, stabilized near infrared spectrograph spanning the Y+J bands (0.98-1.3μm) with 50,000 resolution. Working in the near infrared will allow the HPF to study cooler, lower mass stars than is possible with the current generation of optical spectrographs. In order to extend the precision of the HPF to lower minimum RV signatures we are proposing to develop a deployable, fully autonomous version of the Y+J band laser frequency comb currently in operation at the NIST Time and Frequency Division in Boulder, Colorado. The Y+J comb is derived from the H band (1.45-1.7μm) comb which was successfully demonstrated at the Hobby-Eberly Telescope in 2010. The deployed version will leverage off of existing hardware and demonstrated technology. We present instrument architecture and current performance as well as results of long term stability tests, filter modeling, modal noise reduction results and predicted end-to-end performance.
- Publication:
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American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #221
- Pub Date:
- January 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013AAS...22114911O