119233324
FUNDAMENTAL PERFORMANCE OF A DISPERSED FIXED DELAY INTERFEROMETER IN SEARCHING FOR PLANETS AROUND M DWARFS
We present a new method to calculate fundamental Doppler measurement limits with a dispersed fixed delay interferometer (DFDI) in the near-infrared (NIR) wavelength region for searching for exoplanets around M dwarfs in the coming decade. It is based on calculating the Q factor, a measure of flux-normalized Doppler sensitivity in the fringing spectra created with DFDI. We calculate the Q factor as a function of spectral resolution R, stellar-projected rotational velocity Vsin i, stellar effective temperature T eff, and optical path difference (OPD) of the interferometer. We also compare the DFDI Q factor to that for the popular cross-dispersed echelle spectrograph method (the direct echelle (DE) method). We find that (1) Q DFDI is a factor of 1.5-3 higher than Q DE at R ranging from 5000 to 20,000; (2) Q DFDI and Q DE converge at a very high R (R ≥ 100,000); (3) Q DFDI increases as R increases and Vsin i deceases; (4) for a given R, Q DFDI increases as T eff drops from 3100 K to 2400 K (M4V to M9V). We also investigate how Q DFDI is affected by OPD and find that a 5 mm deviation from the optimal OPD does not significantly affect Q DFDI (10% or less) for a wide range of R. Given that the NIR Doppler measurement is likely to be detector-limited for a while, we introduce new merit functions, which is directly related to photon-limited radial velocity (RV) uncertainty, to evaluate Doppler performance with the DFDI and DE methods. We find that DFDI has strength in wavelength coverage and multi-object capability over the DE for a limited detector resource. We simulate the performance of the InfraRed Exoplanet Tracker (IRET) based on the DFDI design, being considered for the next generation IR Doppler measurements. The predicted photon-limited RV uncertainty suggests that IRET is capable of detecting Earth-like exoplanets in habitable zone around nearby bright M dwarfs if they exist. A new method is developed to quantitatively estimate the influence of telluric lines on RV uncertainty. Our study shows that photon-limited RV uncertainty can be reached if 99% of the strength of telluric lines can be removed from the measured stellar spectra. At low to moderate levels of telluric line strength removal (50%-90%), the optimal RV uncertainty is typically a factor of two to three times larger than photon-limited RV uncertainty.
123269674
Accurate Group Delay Measurement for Radial Velocity Instruments Using the Dispersed Fixed Delay Interferometer Method. II. Application of Heterodyne Combs Using an External Interferometer Filter
A fixed delay interferometer is the key component in a DFDI (dispersed fixed delay interferometer) instrument for an exoplanet search using the radial velocity (RV) technique. Although the group delay (GD) of the interferometer can be measured with white light combs (WLCs), the measurement precision is limited by the comb visibility, and the wavelength coverage is constrained by the comb sampling. For instance, this method can calibrate only half of the SDSS-III MARVELS spectra and reach a precision of 2.2 m s-1. This article introduces an innovative method using a sine source for precision delay calibration over very broad wavelengths. The sine source is made of a monolithic Michelson interferometer fed with white light. The interferometer modulated white light (in a sinusoidal form) is fed into a DFDI instrument for calibration. Due to an optimal GD of the sine source, Fourier components from the DFDI interferometer, the sine source, and their frequency beating can be clearly separated and effectively extracted with a chirped Fourier transform to allow precision measurements of the interferometer GD over the entire range of operation wavelengths. The measurements of the MARVELS interferometer with a sine source show that this new calibration method has improved the wavelength coverage by a factor of 2 and the precision by a factor of 3. The RV measurement error induced by GD measurement uncertainties is controlled to be less than 1 m s-1, which has met the requirements for MARVELS moderate-to-high Doppler precision (~5-30 m s-1) for exoplanet search around V ~ 8-12 solar-type stars. Heterodyne combs using an external interferometer source can be applied in other areas of optics measurement and calibration.
14172815
SDSS-III: Massive Spectroscopic Surveys of the Distant Universe, the Milky Way, and Extra-Solar Planetary Systems
Building on the legacy of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-I and II), SDSS-III is a program of four spectroscopic surveys on three scientific themes: dark energy and cosmological parameters, the history and structure of the Milky Way, and the population of giant planets around other stars. In keeping with SDSS tradition, SDSS-III will provide regular public releases of all its data, beginning with SDSS DR8 (which occurred in Jan 2011). This paper presents an overview of the four SDSS-III surveys. BOSS will measure redshifts of 1.5 million massive galaxies and Lya forest spectra of 150,000 quasars, using the BAO feature of large scale structure to obtain percent-level determinations of the distance scale and Hubble expansion rate at z 100 per resolution element), H-band (1.51-1.70 micron) spectra of 10^5 evolved, late-type stars, measuring separate abundances for ~15 elements per star and creating the first high-precision spectroscopic survey of all Galactic stellar populations (bulge, bar, disks, halo) with a uniform set of stellar tracers and spectral diagnostics. MARVELS will monitor radial velocities of more than 8000 FGK stars with the sensitivity and cadence (10-40 m/s, ~24 visits per star) needed to detect giant planets with periods up to two years, providing an unprecedented data set for understanding the formation and dynamical evolution of giant planet systems. (Abridged)
53650794
MARVELS-1: A FACE-ON DOUBLE-LINED BINARY STAR MASQUERADING AS A RESONANT PLANETARY SYSTEM AND CONSIDERATION OF RARE FALSE POSITIVES IN RADIAL VELOCITY PLANET SEARCHES
We have analyzed new and previously published radial velocity (RV) observations of MARVELS-1, known to have an ostensibly substellar companion in a ~6 day orbit. We find significant (~100 m s–1) residuals to the best-fit model for the companion, and these residuals are naively consistent with an interior giant planet with a P = 1.965 days in a nearly perfect 3:1 period commensurability (|Pb /Pc – 3| < 10–4). We have performed several tests for the reality of such a companion, including a dynamical analysis, a search for photometric variability, and a hunt for contaminating stellar spectra. We find many reasons to be critical of a planetary interpretation, including the fact that most of the three-body dynamical solutions are unstable. We find no evidence for transits, and no evidence of stellar photometric variability. We have discovered two apparent companions to MARVELS-1 with adaptive optics imaging at Keck; both are M dwarfs, one is likely bound, and the other is likely a foreground object. We explore false-alarm scenarios inspired by various curiosities in the data. Ultimately, a line profile and bisector analysis lead us to conclude that the ~100 m s–1 residuals are an artifact of spectral contamination from a stellar companion contributing ~15%-30% of the optical light in the system. We conclude that origin of this contamination is the previously detected RV companion to MARVELS-1, which is not, as previously reported, a brown dwarf, but in fact a G dwarf in a face-on orbit.
118678031
Accurate Group-Delay Measurement for Radial-Velocity Instruments Using the Dispersed Fixed-Delay Interferometer Method
The dispersed fixed-delay Intereferometer (DFDI) method is attractive for its low cost, compact size, and multiobject capability in precision radial-velocity (RV) measurements. The phase shift of fringes of stellar absorption lines is measured and then converted to an RV shift via an important parameter, phase-to-velocity scale (PV scale), determined by the group delay (GD) of a fixed-delay interferometer. Two methods of GD measurement using a DFDI Doppler instrument are presented in this article: (1) GD measurement using white-light combs generated by the fixed-delay interferometer and (2) GD calibration using an RV reference star. These two methods provide adequate precision of GD measurement and calibration, given the current RV precision achieved by a DFDI Doppler instrument. They can potentially be used to measure GD of an fixed-delay interferometer for submeter-precision Doppler measurement with a DFDI instrument. Advantages and limitations of each method are discussed in detail. The two methods can serve as standard procedures of PV-scale calibration for DFDI instruments and cross-checks for each other.
119241051
PLANET HUNTERS. V. A CONFIRMED JUPITER-SIZE PLANET IN THE HABITABLE ZONE AND 42 PLANET CANDIDATES FROM THE KEPLER ARCHIVE DATA*
We report the latest Planet Hunter results, including PH2 b, a Jupiter-size (R PL = 10.12 ? 0.56 R ?) planet orbiting in the habitable zone of a solar-type star. PH2 b was elevated from candidate status when a series of false-positive tests yielded a 99.9% confidence level that transit events detected around the star KIC?12735740 had a planetary origin. Planet Hunter volunteers have also discovered 42 new planet candidates in the Kepler public archive data, of which 33 have at least 3 transits recorded. Most of these transit candidates have orbital periods longer than 100?days and 20 are potentially located in the habitable zones of their host stars. Nine candidates were detected with only two transit events and the prospective periods are longer than 400?days. The photometric models suggest that these objects have radii that range between those of Neptune and Jupiter. These detections nearly double the number of gas-giant planet candidates orbiting at habitable-zone distances. We conducted spectroscopic observations for nine of the brighter targets to improve the stellar parameters and we obtained adaptive optics imaging for four of the stars to search for blended background or foreground stars that could confuse our photometric modeling. We present an iterative analysis method to derive the stellar and planet properties and uncertainties by combining the available spectroscopic parameters, stellar evolution models, and transiting light curve parameters, weighted by the measurement errors. Planet Hunters is a citizen science project that crowd sources the assessment of NASA Kepler light curves. The discovery of these 43 planet candidates demonstrates the success of citizen scientists at identifying planet candidates, even in longer period orbits with only two or three transit events.
119283371
EXSdetect: an end-to-end software for extended source detection in X-ray images: application to Swift-XRT data
Aims. We present a stand-alone software (named EXSdetect) for the detection of extended sources in X-ray images. Our goal is to provide a flexible tool capable of detecting extended source s down to the lowest flux levels attainable within instrument al limitations, while maintaining robust photometry, high completeness, and low contamination, regardless of source morphology. EXSdetect was developed mainly to exploit the ever-increasing wealth of archival X-ray data, but is also ideally suited to explore the scientific capabilities of future X-ray facilities, with a strong focu s on investigations of distant groups and clusters of galaxi es. Methods. EXSdetect combines a fast Voronoi tessellation code with a friends-of-friends algorithm and an automated deblending procedure. The values of key parameters are matched to fundamental telescope properties such as angular resolution and instrumental background. In addition, the software is designed to permit extensive tests of its performance via simulations of a wide range of observational scenarios. Results. We applied EXSdetect to simulated data fields modeled to real istically represent the Swift X-ray Cluster Survey (SXCS ), which is based on archival data obtained by the X-ray telescope onboard the Swift satellite. We achieve more than 90% completeness for extended sources comprising at least 80 photons in the 0.5‐2 keV band, a limit that corresponds to 10 14 erg cm 2 s 1 for the deepest SXCS fields. This detection limit is comparable to th e one attained by the most sensitive cluster surveys conducted with much larger X-ray telescopes. While evaluating the performance of EXSdetect, we also explored the impact of improved angular resolution and discuss the ideal properties of the next generation of X-ray survey missions.
123724946
Expression of interest to the Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory by the L* Collaboration
13951142
The Chandra Carina Complex Project View of Trumpler 16
Trumpler 16 is a well-known rich star cluster containing the eruptive supergiant ? Carinae and located in the Carina star-forming complex. In the context of the Chandra Carina Complex Project, we study Trumpler 16 using new and archival X-ray data. A revised X-ray source list of the Trumpler 16 region contains 1232 X-ray sources including 1187 likely Carina members. These are matched to 1047 near-infrared counterparts detected by the HAWK-I instrument at the Very Large Telescope allowing for better selection of cluster members. The cluster is irregular in shape. Although it is roughly circular, there is a high degree of sub-clustering, with no noticeable central concentration and an extension to the southeast. The high-mass stars show neither evidence of mass segregation nor evidence of strong differential extinction. The derived power-law slope of the X-ray luminosity function for Trumpler 16 reveals a much steeper function than the Orion Nebula Cluster, implying a different ratio of solar- to higher-mass stars. We estimate the total Trumpler 16 pre-main-sequence population to be >6500 Class II and Class III X-ray sources. An overall K-excess disk frequency of ~8.9% is derived using the X-ray-selected sample, although there is some variation among the sub-clusters, especially in the southeastern extension. X-ray emission is detected from 29 high-mass stars with spectral types between B2 and O3.
55361469
TWO-COMPONENT STRUCTURE OF THE Hβ BROAD-LINE REGION IN QUASARS. I. EVIDENCE FROM SPECTRAL PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS
We report on a spectral principal component analysis (SPCA) of a sample of 816 quasars, selected to have small Fe II velocity shifts with spectral coverage in the rest wavelength range 3500-5500 A. The sample is explicitly designed to mitigate spurious effects on SPCA induced by Fe II velocity shifts. We improve the algorithm of SPCA in the literature and introduce a new quantity, the fractional-contribution spectrum, that effectively identifies the emission features encoded in each eigenspectrum. The first eigenspectrum clearly records the power-law continuum and very broad Balmer emission lines. Narrow emission lines dominate the second eigenspectrum. The third eigenspectrum represents the Fe II emission and a component of the Balmer lines with kinematically similar intermediate-velocity widths. Correlations between the weights of the eigenspectra and parametric measurements of line strength and continuum slope confirm the above interpretation for the eigenspectra. Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate the validity of our method to recognize cross talk in SPCA and firmly rule out a single-component model for broad Hβ. We also present the results of SPCA for four other samples that contain quasars in bins of larger Fe II velocity shift; similar eigenspectra are obtained. We propose that the Hβ-emitting region has two kinematically distinct components: one with very large velocities whose strength correlates with the continuum shape and another with more modest, intermediate velocities that is closely coupled to the gas that gives rise to Fe II emission.
11870821
Analysis And Application Of Manifold Radiation In DDS 1 : First Experiences 1
The cells in the SLAC DDS are designed in such a way that the transverse modes excited by the beam are detuned in a Gaussian fashion so that destructive interference causes the wake function to decrease rapidly and smoothly. Moderate damping provided by four waveguide manifolds running along the outer wall of the accelerator is utilised to suppress the reappearance of the wake function at long ranges where the interference becomes constructive again. The newly developed spectral function method, involving a continuum of frequencies, is applied to analyze the wake function of the DDS 1 design and to study the dependence of the wake function on manifold termination. The wake function obtained with the actually realized manifold terminations is presented and compared to wake function measurements recently carried out at the ASSET facility installed in the SLAC LINAC. Paper presented at the 7 Workshop on Advanced Accelerator Concepts, Lake Tahoe, CA, October 13-19 1996 1 Supported by Department of Energy grant number DE-FG03-93ER40759 and DE-AC0376SF00515 Analysis And Application Of Manifold Radiation In DDS 1: First Experiences R.M. Jones , N.M. Kroll, M. Seidel , C. Adolphsen, K.L.F. Bane, W.R.Fowkes, K. Ko, R.H. Miller, R.D. Ruth, and J.W. Wang †Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, M/S 26, P.O Box 4349, Stanford, CA 94309 ‡ University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0319 Abstract. The frequency spectrum of the manifold radiation resulting from a uniformly displaced drive beam in DDS 1 has been calculated utilising the spectral function theory and compared with observations in the ASSET experiment. They are found to be in good qualitative agreement. The bulk of the radiation, both measured and computed, is found to emerge from the downstream end of the manifolds. This is in conflict with perturbation theory predictions, and is thus one more indication of the unreliability of perturbation theory for estimating manifold effects for DDS 1. Beam centering as a function of frequency is accomplished by minimizing manifold radiation within a narrow frequency band. This procedure provides information on structure misalignment. While misalignments in DDS 1 degraded the precision of beam centering which could be achieved by minimizing manifold radiation, the results obtained are considered to be encouraging. The frequency spectrum of the manifold radiation resulting from a uniformly displaced drive beam in DDS 1 has been calculated utilising the spectral function theory and compared with observations in the ASSET experiment. They are found to be in good qualitative agreement. The bulk of the radiation, both measured and computed, is found to emerge from the downstream end of the manifolds. This is in conflict with perturbation theory predictions, and is thus one more indication of the unreliability of perturbation theory for estimating manifold effects for DDS 1. Beam centering as a function of frequency is accomplished by minimizing manifold radiation within a narrow frequency band. This procedure provides information on structure misalignment. While misalignments in DDS 1 degraded the precision of beam centering which could be achieved by minimizing manifold radiation, the results obtained are considered to be encouraging.