Radial Velocities of Low-mass Stars Using Telluric Lines

Details Radial Velocities of Low-mass Stars Using Telluric Lines Radial Velocities of Low-mass Stars Using Telluric Lines

Sep 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011ess.....2.2013b&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, ESS meeting #2, #20.13

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Scientific paper

The search for companions to the lowest mass stars offers us an exciting pathway toward the detection of Earth-like planets. Low mass-stars are intrinsically small and cool, motivating the development of observational techniques optimized for the deep red (700 to 1000 nm) and infrared wavelengths where these stars are brightest. However, Earth's atmosphere absorbs strongly in these spectral regions, and telluric features due to O2, H2O, CH4, and CO2 dominate significant portions of ground-based spectra at red wavelengths. For the specific application of radial velocity (RV) measurements of low-mass stars, wavelengths where there is significant telluric absorption present a distinct advantage. The telluric lines provide a rich set of absorption features that can readily serve as a simultaneous absorption reference, yielding RV measurements of modest precision using existing instrumentation. We describe the theoretical expectations regarding the fundamental limits of telluric lines as a "zero velocity" wavelength reference and present results from detailed simulations of absorption by Earth's atmosphere as well as the impact of atmospheric variations on RV precision. We present preliminary results from a deep red optical survey of 100 late-M stars that relies on telluric water vapor as a simultaneous reference. We demonstrate that long-term stability of 10 m/s may be achievable using a typical echelle spectrograph, theoretical models of the composition of Earth's atmosphere, and some basic assumptions about the time variability of the atmosphere. This work has been supported by the National Science Foundation through an Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowship.

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