Mr. Marco Azzaro Profile

Marco Azzaro

at Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía

SPIE Involvement:

Author

Publications (7)

Proceedings Article | 27 July 2018 Presentation + Paper

CARMENES: high-resolution spectra and precise radial velocities in the red and infrared

A. Quirrenbach, P. Amado, I. Ribas, A. Reiners, J. Caballero, W. Seifert, J. Aceituno, M. Azzaro, D. Baroch, D. Barrado, F. Bauer, S. Becerril, V. J. S. Bèjar, D. Benítez, M. Brinkmöller, C. Cardona Guillén, C. Cifuentes, J. Colomé, M. Cortés-Contreras, S. Czesla, S. Dreizler, K. Frölich, B. Fuhrmeister, D. Galadí-Enríquez, J. González Hernández, R. González Peinado, E. Guenther, E. de Guindos, H.-J. Hagen, A. Hatzes, P. Hauschildt, J. Helmling, Th. Henning, O. Herbort, L. Hernández Castaño, E. Herrero, D. Hintz, S. Jeffers, E. Johnson, E. de Juan, A. Kaminski, H. Klahr, M. Kürster, M. Lafarga, L. Sairam, M. Lampón, L. M. Lara, R. Launhardt, M. López del Fresno, M. López-Puertas, R. Luque, H. Mandel, E. G. Marfil, E. Martín, S. Martín-Ruiz, R. Mathar, D. Montes, J. Morales, E. Nagel, L. Nortmann, G. Nowak, E. Pallé, V.-M. Passegger, A. Pavlov, S. Pedraz, D. Pérez-Medialdea, M. Perger, R. Rebolo, S. Reffert, E. Rodríguez, C. Rodríguez López, A. Rosich, S. Sabotta, S. Sadegi, M. Salz, A. Sánchez-López, J. Sanz-Forcada, P. Sarkis, S. Schäfer, J. Schiller, J. H. M. M. Schmitt, P. Schöfer, A. Schweitzer, D. Shulyak, E. Solano, O. Stahl, M. Tala Pinto, T. Trifonov, M. R. Zapatero Osorio, F. Yan, M. Zechmeister, F. Abellán, M. Abril, F. Alonso-Floriano, M. Ammler-von Eiff, G. Anglada-Escudé, H. Anwand-Heerwart, B. Arroyo-Torres, Z. Berdiñas, G. Bergondy, M. Blümcke, C. del Burgo, J. Cano, J. Carro, M. Cárdenas, E. Casal, A. Claret, E. Díez-Alonso, M. Doellinger, R. Dorda, C. Feiz, M. Fernández, I. Ferro, G. Gaisné, I. Gallardo, M. Gálvez-Ortiz, A. García-Piquer, M. L. García-Vargas, R. Garrido, L. Gesa, V. Gómez Galera, E. González-Álvarez, L. González-Cuesta, S. Grohnert, U. Grözinger, J. Guàrdia, A. Guijarro, R. P. Hedrosa, D. Hermann, I. Hermelo, R. Hernández Arabí, F. Hernández Hernando, D. Hidalgo, G. Holgado, A. Huber, K. Huber, P. Huke, M. Kehr, M. Kim, R. Klein, J. Klüter, A. Klutsch, F. Labarga, N. Labiche, A. Lamert, W. Laun, F. Lázaro, U. Lemke, R. Lenzen, M. Llamas, J.-L. Lizon, N. Lodieu, M. J. López González, M. López-Morales, J. F. López Salas, J. López-Santiago, H. Magán Madinabeitia, U. Mall, L. Mancini, J. A. Marín Molina, H. Martínez-Rodríguez, D. Maroto Fernández, C. Marvin, E. Mirabet, M. E. Moreno-Raya, A. Moya, R. Mundt, V. Naranjo, J. Panduro, J. Pascual, A. Pérez-Calpena, M. A. C. Perryman, M. Pluto, A. Ramón, P. Redondo, S. Reinhart, P. Rhode, H.-W. Rix, F. Rodler, R.-R. Rohloff, E. Sánchez-Blanco, M. Sánchez Carrasco, L. Sarmiento, C. Schmidt, C. Storz, J. B. P. Strachan, J. Stürmer, J. Suárez, H. Tabernero, L. Tal-Or, S. Tulloch, R.-G. Ulbrich, G. Veredas, J. Vico Linares, M. Vidal-Dasilva, F. Vilardell, K. Wagner, J. Winkler, V. Wolthoff, W. Xu, Z. Zhao

Proceedings Volume 10702, 107020W (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2313689

KEYWORDS: Stars, Spectrographs, Planets, Calibration, Optical fibers, Telescopes, Infrared radiation, Lamps, Sodium, Astronomy

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The design and construction of CARMENES has been presented at previous SPIE conferences. It is a next-generation radial-velocity instrument at the 3.5m telescope of the Calar Alto Observatory, which was built by a consortium of eleven Spanish and German institutions. CARMENES consists of two separate échelle spectrographs covering the wavelength range from 0.52 to 1.71μm at a spec-tral resolution of R < 80,000, fed by fibers from the Cassegrain focus of the telescope. CARMENES saw “First Light” on Nov 9, 2015. During the commissioning and initial operation phases, we established basic performance data such as throughput and spectral resolution. We found that our hollow-cathode lamps are suitable for precise wavelength calibration, but their spectra contain a number of lines of neon or argon that are so bright that the lamps cannot be used in simultaneous exposures with stars. We have therefore adopted a calibration procedure that uses simultaneous star / Fabry Pérot etalon exposures in combination with a cross-calibration between the etalons and hollow-cathode lamps during daytime. With this strategy it has been possible to achieve 1-2 m/s precision in the visible and 5-10 m/s precision in the near-IR; further improvements are expected from ongoing work on temperature control, calibration procedures and data reduction. Comparing the RV precision achieved in different wavelength bands, we find a “sweet spot” between 0.7 and 0.8μm, where deep TiO bands provide rich RV information in mid-M dwarfs. This is in contrast to our pre-survey models, which predicted comparatively better performance in the near-IR around 1μm, and explains in part why our near-IR RVs do not reach the same precision level as those taken with the visible spectrograph. We are now conducting a large survey of 340 nearby M dwarfs (with an average distance of only 12pc), with the goal of finding terrestrial planets in their habitable zones. We have detected the signatures of several previously known or suspected planets and also discovered several new planets. We find that the radial velocity periodograms of many M dwarfs show several significant peaks. The development of robust methods to distinguish planet signatures from activity-induced radial velocity jitter is therefore among our priorities. Due to its large wavelength coverage, the CARMENES survey is generating a unique data set for studies of M star atmospheres, rotation, and activity. The spectra cover important diagnostic lines for activity (H alpha, Na I D1 and D2, and the Ca II infrared triplet), as well as FeH lines, from which the magnetic field can be inferred. Correlating the time series of these features with each other, and with wavelength-dependent radial velocities, provides excellent handles for the discrimination between planetary companions and stellar radial velocity jitter. These data are also generating new insight into the physical properties of M dwarf atmospheres, and the impact of activity and flares on the habitability of M star planets.

Proceedings Article | 17 November 2016 Paper

CARMENES: an overview six months after first light

A. Quirrenbach, P. Amado, J. Caballero, R. Mundt, A. Reiners, I. Ribas, W. Seifert, M. Abril, J. Aceituno, F. Alonso-Floriano, H. Anwand-Heerwart, M. Azzaro, F. Bauer, D. Barrado, S. Becerril, V. J. Bejar, D. Benitez, Z. Berdinas, M. Brinkmöller, M. Cardenas, E. Casal, A. Claret, J. Colomé, M. Cortes-Contreras, S. Czesla, M. Doellinger, S. Dreizler, C. Feiz, M. Fernandez, I. Ferro, B. Fuhrmeister, D. Galadi, I. Gallardo, M. Gálvez-Ortiz, A. Garcia-Piquer, R. Garrido, L. Gesa, V. Gómez Galera, J. González Hernández, R. Gonzalez Peinado, U. Grözinger, J. Guàrdia, E. Guenther, E. de Guindos, H.-J. Hagen, A. Hatzes, P. Hauschildt, J. Helmling, T. Henning, D. Hermann, R. Hernández Arabi, L. Hernández Castaño, F. Hernández Hernando, E. Herrero, A. Huber, K. Huber, P. Huke, S. Jeffers, E. de Juan, A. Kaminski, M. Kehr, M. Kim, R. Klein, J. Klüter, M. Kürster, M. Lafarga, L. Lara, A. Lamert, W. Laun, R. Launhardt, U. Lemke, R. Lenzen, M. Llamas, M. Lopez del Fresno, M. López-Puertas, J. López-Santiago, J. Lopez Salas, H. Magan Madinabeitia, U. Mall, H. Mandel, L. Mancini, J. Marin Molina, D. Maroto Fernández, E. Martín, S. Martín-Ruiz, C. Marvin, R. Mathar, E. Mirabet, D. Montes, J. Morales, R. Morales Muñoz, E. Nagel, V. Naranjo, G. Nowak, E. Palle, J. Panduro, V. Passegger, A. Pavlov, S. Pedraz, E. Perez, D. Pérez-Medialdea, M. Perger, M. Pluto, A. Ramón , R. Rebolo, P. Redondo, S. Reffert, S. Reinhart, P. Rhode, H.-W. Rix, F. Rodler, E. Rodríguez, C. Rodríguez López, R. Rohloff, A. Rosich, M Sanchez Carrasco, J. Sanz-Forcada, P. Sarkis, L. Sarmiento, S. Schäfer, J. Schiller, C. Schmidt, J. H. M. M. Schmitt, P. Schöfer, A. Schweitzer, D. Shulyak, E. Solano, O. Stahl, C. Storz, H. Tabernero, M. Tala, L. Tal-Or, R.-G. Ulbrich, G. Veredas, J. I. Vico Linares, F. Vilardell, K. Wagner, J. Winkler, M.-R. Zapatero Osorio, M. Zechmeister, M. Ammler-von Eiff, G. Anglada-Escudé, C. del Burgo, M. Garcia-Vargas, A. Klutsch, J.-L. Lizon, M. Lopez-Morales, A. Ofir, A. Pérez-Calpena, M. A. C. Perryman, E. Sánchez-Blanco , J. B. P. Strachan, J. Stürmer, J. Suárez, T. Trifonov, S. Tulloch, W. Xu

Proceedings Volume 9908, 990812 (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2231880

KEYWORDS: Spectrographs, Stars, Calibration, Planets, Telescopes, Observatories, Control systems, Data archive systems, Fabry–Perot interferometers, Lamps

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Proceedings Article | 8 August 2016 Paper

CARMENES: management of a schedule-driven project

M. L. García-Vargas, J. Caballero, A. Pérez-Calpena, Pedro Amado, Walter Seifert, Marco Azzaro, Holger Mandel, Andreas Quirrenbach, Ignasi Ribas, Ansgar Reiners, Eike Guenther, Lluís Gesa, David Galadí, Jesús Aceituno

Proceedings Volume 9911, 99110P (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2232433

KEYWORDS: Observatories, Spectrographs, Telescopes, Systems engineering, Observatories, Near infrared, Phase modulation, Sensors, Cameras, Control systems, Fractal analysis

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CARMENES (Calar Alto high-Resolution search for M dwarfs with Exoearths with Near-infrared and optical Échelle Spectrographs) is an instrument consistent in two ultra-stable high resolution (R~82,000) spectrographs covering simultaneously the visible (0.5 – 1.0μm) and near-IR (1.0 - 1.7μm) ranges to provide high-accuracy radial-velocity measurements (∼1 m/s) thanks to the long-term stability. CARMENES was the initiative of a consortium of eleven German and Spanish institutions. CARMENES has been built for the 3.5m telescope at the Centro Astronómico Hipano- Alemán (CAHA), Calar Alto Observatory (Almería, Spain) and is currently in operation. CAHA is jointly operated by the Max-Planck-Society (MPG) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).

The project received the green light in October 2010 and in February 2013 passed a Final Design Review. Six months later, the MPG and CSIC, the observatory’s owners, made an independent evaluation concluding that CARMENES had to be ready for operations at the end of 2015. Since then, fulfilling the calendar was the driver of all project decisions. Moreover, the observatory’s survival was linked to the instrument’s success: should the instrument fail, the observatory would be closed. On the contrary, the instrument’s success would give unique capabilities to the Observatory for Big Science. Such a challenge became to be our private Olympic Games: we had to be on time. This decision definitively impacted on the project dynamics, there was no room for a delay. The deadline, December 31st, 2015, was controlled by a strict tracking of the critical path; calendar deviations were corrected with risky decisions while fast tracking or even crashing methods were applied.

The management scenario was far from optimum: most key people in the project shared their time with other duties; the observatory funding cuts; the budget was tight and distributed among the 11 partner centers with their own different rules, etc. Despite these difficulties, the close coordination among the project manager, the system engineer and the work package managers, the hard work of the whole team, and the support from the observatory were our best bets.

Two frenetic years after the calendar decision, we had manufactured, integrated and tested the two spectrographs and we were commissioning the instrument. The instrument first light took place on November, 9th, 2015 and CARMENES entered in operation at the end of December 2015. This paper describes the keys to success.

Proceedings Article | 10 July 2014 Paper

CARMENES instrument overview

A. Quirrenbach, P. Amado, J. Caballero, R. Mundt, A. Reiners, I. Ribas, W. Seifert, M. Abril, J. Aceituno, F. J. Alonso-Floriano, M. Ammler-von Eiff, R. Antona Jiménez, H. Anwand-Heerwart, M. Azzaro, F. Bauer, D. Barrado, S. Becerril, V. J. Béjar, D. Benítez, Z. Berdiñas, M. Cárdenas, E. Casal, A. Claret, J. Colomé, M. Cortés-Contreras, S. Czesla, M. Doellinger, S. Dreizler, C. Feiz, M. Fernández, D. Galadí, M. Gálvez-Ortiz, A. García-Piquer, M. García-Vargas, R. Garrido, L. Gesa, V. Gómez Galera, E. González Álvarez, J. González Hernández, U. Grözinger, J. Guàrdia, E. Guenther, E. de Guindos, J. Gutiérrez-Soto, H.-J. Hagen, A. Hatzes, P. Hauschildt, J. Helmling, T. Henning, D. Hermann, L. Hernández Castaño, E. Herrero, D. Hidalgo, G. Holgado, A. Huber, K. Huber, S. Jeffers, V. Joergens, E. de Juan, M. Kehr, R. Klein, M. Kürster, A. Lamert, S. Lalitha, W. Laun, U. Lemke, R. Lenzen, Mauro López del Fresno, B. López Martí, J. López-Santiago, U. Mall, H. Mandel, E. Martín, S. Martín-Ruiz, H. Martínez-Rodríguez, C. Marvin, R. Mathar, E. Mirabet, D. Montes, R. Morales Muñoz, A. Moya, V. Naranjo, A. Ofir, R. Oreiro, E. Pallé, J. Panduro, V.-M. Passegger, A. Pérez-Calpena, D. Pérez Medialdea, M. Perger, M. Pluto, A. Ramón, R. Rebolo, P. Redondo, S. Reffert, S. Reinhardt, P. Rhode, H.-W. Rix, F. Rodler, E. Rodríguez, C. Rodríguez-López, E. Rodríguez-Pérez, R.-R. Rohloff, A. Rosich, E. Sánchez-Blanco, M. Sánchez Carrasco, J. Sanz-Forcada, L. Sarmiento, S. Schäfer, J. Schiller, C. Schmidt, J. H. M. M. Schmitt, E. Solano, O. Stahl, C. Storz, J. Stürmer, J. Suárez, R. Ulbrich, G. Veredas, K. Wagner, J. Winkler, M. Zapatero Osorio, M. Zechmeister, F. Abellán de Paco, G. Anglada-Escudé, C. del Burgo, A. Klutsch, J. Lizon, M. López-Morales, J. Morales, M. A. C. Perryman, S. Tulloch, W. Xu

Proceedings Volume 9147, 91471F (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2056453

KEYWORDS: Spectrographs, Optical fibers, Lamps, Stars, Telescopes, Calibration, Planets, Sensors, Visible radiation, Exoplanets

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This paper gives an overview of the CARMENES instrument and of the survey that will be carried out with it during the first years of operation. CARMENES (Calar Alto high-Resolution search for M dwarfs with Exoearths with Near-infrared and optical Echelle Spectrographs) is a next-generation radial-velocity instrument under construction for the 3.5m telescope at the Calar Alto Observatory by a consortium of eleven Spanish and German institutions. The scientific goal of the project is conducting a 600-night exoplanet survey targeting ~ 300 M dwarfs with the completed instrument. The CARMENES instrument consists of two separate echelle spectrographs covering the wavelength range from 0.55 to 1.7 μm at a spectral resolution of R = 82,000, fed by fibers from the Cassegrain focus of the telescope. The spectrographs are housed in vacuum tanks providing the temperature-stabilized environments necessary to enable a 1 m/s radial velocity precision employing a simultaneous calibration with an emission-line lamp or with a Fabry-Perot etalon. For mid-M to late-M spectral types, the wavelength range around 1.0 μm (Y band) is the most important wavelength region for radial velocity work. Therefore, the efficiency of CARMENES has been optimized in this range. The CARMENES instrument consists of two spectrographs, one equipped with a 4k x 4k pixel CCD for the range 0.55 - 1.05 μm, and one with two 2k x 2k pixel HgCdTe detectors for the range from 0.95 - 1.7μm. Each spectrograph will be coupled to the 3.5m telescope with two optical fibers, one for the target, and one for calibration light. The front end contains a dichroic beam splitter and an atmospheric dispersion corrector, to feed the light into the fibers leading to the spectrographs. Guiding is performed with a separate camera; on-axis as well as off-axis guiding modes are implemented. Fibers with octagonal cross-section are employed to ensure good stability of the output in the presence of residual guiding errors. The fibers are continually actuated to reduce modal noise. The spectrographs are mounted on benches inside vacuum tanks located in the coud´e laboratory of the 3.5m dome. Each vacuum tank is equipped with a temperature stabilization system capable of keeping the temperature constant to within ±0.01°C over 24 hours. The visible-light spectrograph will be operated near room temperature, while the near-IR spectrograph will be cooled to ~ 140 K. The CARMENES instrument passed its final design review in February 2013. The MAIV phase is currently ongoing. First tests at the telescope are scheduled for early 2015. Completion of the full instrument is planned for the fall of 2015. At least 600 useable nights have been allocated at the Calar Alto 3.5m Telescope for the CARMENES survey in the time frame until 2018. A data base of M stars (dubbed CARMENCITA) has been compiled from which the CARMENES sample can be selected. CARMENCITA contains information on all relevant properties of the potential targets. Dedicated imaging, photometric, and spectroscopic observations are underway to provide crucial data on these stars that are not available in the literature.