The Pathfinder testbed: exploring techniques for achieving precision radial velocities in the near infrared

Larry W. Ramsey; Suvrath Mahadevan; Stephen Redman; Chad Bender; Arpita Roy; Stephanie Zonak; Steinn Sigurdsson; Alex Wolszczan

doi:10.1117/12.857502

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20 July 2010 The Pathfinder testbed: exploring techniques for achieving precision radial velocities in the near infrared

Larry W. Ramsey, Suvrath Mahadevan, Stephen Redman, Chad Bender, Arpita Roy, Stephanie Zonak, Steinn Sigurdsson, Alex Wolszczan

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Proceedings Volume 7735, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy III; 773571 (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.857502
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2010, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The Penn State Pathfinder is a prototype warm fiber-fed Echelle spectrograph with a Hawaii-1 NIR detector that has already demonstrated 7-10 m/s radial velocity precision on integrated sunlight. The Pathfinder testbed was initially setup for the Gemini PRVS design study to enable a systematic exploration of the challenges of achieving high radial velocity precision in the near-infrared, as well as to test possible solutions to these calibration challenges. The current version of the Pathfinder has an R3 echelle grating, and delivers a resolution of R~50,000 in the Y, J or H bands of the spectrum. We will discuss the on sky-performance of the Pathfinder during an engineering test run at the Hobby Eberly Telescope as well the results of velocity observations of M dwarfs. We will also discuss the unique calibration techniques we have explored, like Uranium-Neon hollow cathode lamps, notch filter, and modal noise mitigation to enable high precision radial velocity observation in the NIR. The Pathfinder is a prototype testbed precursor of a cooled high-resolution NIR spectrograph capable of high radial velocity precision and of finding low mass planets around mid-late M dwarfs.

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Larry W. Ramsey, Suvrath Mahadevan, Stephen Redman, Chad Bender, Arpita Roy, Stephanie Zonak, Steinn Sigurdsson, and Alex Wolszczan "The Pathfinder testbed: exploring techniques for achieving precision radial velocities in the near infrared", Proc. SPIE 7735, Ground-based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy III, 773571 (20 July 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.857502

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