High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher

Montage of the HARPS spectrograph and the 3.6m telescope at La Silla. The upper left shows the dome of the telescope, while the upper right illustrates the telescope itself. The HARPS spectrograph is shown in the lower image during laboratory tests. The vacuum tank is open so that some of the high-precision components inside can be seen

The High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) is a high-precision echelle planet finding spectrograph installed in 2002 on the ESO's 3.6m telescope at La Silla Observatory in Chile. The first light was achieved in February 2003. HARPS has discovered over 130 exoplanets to date, with the first one in 2004, making it the most successful planet finder behind the Kepler space observatory. It is a second-generation radial-velocity spectrograph, based on experience with the ELODIE and CORALIE instruments.[1]

Characteristics

HARPS can attain a precision of 0.97 m/s (3.5 km/h),[2] with an effective precision of the order of 30 cm s−1,[3] making it one of only two instruments worldwide with such accuracy.[4] This is due to a design in which the target star and a reference spectrum from a thorium lamp are observed simultaneously using two identical optic fibre feeds, and to careful attention to mechanical stability: the instrument sits in a vacuum vessel which is temperature-controlled to within 0.01 kelvins.[5] The precision and sensitivity of the instrument is such that it incidentally produced the best available measurement of the thorium spectrum.[6] Planet-detection is in some cases limited by the seismic pulsations of the star observed rather than by limitations of the instrument.[7]

The principal investigator on HARPS is Michel Mayor who, along with Didier Queloz and Stéphane Udry have used the instrument to characterize the Gliese 581 planetary system, home to one of the smallest known exoplanet orbiting a normal star, and two super-Earths whose orbits lie in the star's habitable zone.[8]

It was initially used for a survey of a thousand stars.

Since October 2012 the HARPS spectrograph has the precision to detect a new category of planets: Habitable super-Earths. This sensitivity was expected from simulations of stellar intrinsic signals, and actual observations of planetary systems. Currently, HARPS can detect habitable super-Earth only around low-mass stars as these are more affected by gravitational tug from planets and have habitable zones close to the host star.[9]

Planets discovered by HARPS

A decade of discoveries from HARPS[10]
HARPS spectrograph
HARPS spectrograph detail
Animation of HD 10180 with its planetary system consisting of seven planets (b–h) discovered by HARPS
Planet Date announced
HD 330075 b 10 February 2004
Mu Arae c 25 August 2004
HD 2638 b 22 March 2005
HD 27894 b 22 March 2005
HD 63454 b 22 March 2005
HD 93083 b 30 March 2005
HD 101930 b 30 March 2005
Gliese 581b 8 September 2005
HD 4308 b 12 October 2005
HD 212301 b 25 January 2006
HD 69830 b 18 May 2006
HD 69830 c 18 May 2006
HD 69830 d 18 May 2006
Mu Arae d 14/18 August 2006
Gliese 674 b 2 April 2007
HD 100777 b 6 April 2007
HD 190647 b 6 April 2007
HD 221287 b 6 April 2007
Gliese 581c 23 April 2007
Gliese 581d 23 April 2007
HD 171028 b 7 August 2007
HD 40307 b 27 June 2008
HD 40307 c 27 June 2008
HD 40307 d 27 June 2008
Gliese 176 b
shorter period
4 September 2008
BD-17°63 b 26 October 2008
HD 20868 b 26 October 2008
HD 73267 b 26 October 2008
HD 131664 b
M sin i brown dwarf
26 October 2008
HD 145377 b 26 October 2008
HD 153950 b 26 October 2008
HD 47186 b 9 December 2008
HD 47186 c 9 December 2008
HD 181433 b 9 December 2009
HD 181433 c 9 December 2009
HD 181433 d 9 December 2009
HD 45364 b 3 February 2009
HD 45364 c 3 February 2009
Gliese 581e 21 April 2009
Gliese 667 Cb 19 October 2009
BD-08°2823 b 16 December 2009
BD-08°2823 c 16 December 2009
HD 5388 b
brown dwarf
16 December 2009
HD 181720 b 16 December 2009
HD 190984 b 16 December 2009
HD 125612 c 29 December 2009
HD 125612 d 29 December 2009
HD 215497 b 29 December 2009
HD 215497 c 29 December 2009
HIP 5158 b 29 December 2009
HD 85390 b 5 October 2010
HD 90156 b 5 October 2010
HD 103197 b 5 October 2010
HIP 12961 b 6 December 2010
HD 1690 b 17 December 2010
HD 25171 b 17 December 2010
HD 113538 b 17 December 2010
HD 113538 c 17 December 2010
HD 217786 b
M sin ibrown dwarf
17 December 2010
HD 33473 Ab 17 December 2010
HD 89839 b 17 December 2010
HD 167677 b 17 December 2010
HD 10180 b 23 November 2010
HD 10180 c 23 November 2010
HD 10180 d 23 November 2010
HD 10180 e 23 November 2010
HD 10180 f 23 November 2010
HD 10180 g 23 November 2010
HD 10180 h 23 November 2010
HD 63765 b 1 July 2011
HD 104067 b 1 July 2011
HD 125595 b 1 July 2011
HIP 70849 b 1 July 2011
HD 137388 b 8 July 2011
HD 204941 b 8 July 2011
HD 7199 b 8 July 2011
HD 7449 b 8 July 2011
82 G. Eridani b 17 August 2011
82 G. Eridani c 17 August 2011
82 G. Eridani d 17 August 2011
HD 85512 b 17 August 2011
HR 7722 c 17 August 2011
HD 1461 c 12 September 2011
HD 13808 b 12 September 2011
HD 13808 c 12 September 2011
HD 20003 b 12 September 2011
HD 20003 c 12 September 2011
HD 20781 b 12 September 2011
HD 20781 c 12 September 2011
HD 21693 b 12 September 2011
HD 21693 c 12 September 2011
HD 31527 b 12 September 2011
HD 31527 c 12 September 2011
HD 31527 d 12 September 2011
HD 38858 b 12 September 2011
HD 39194 b 12 September 2011
HD 39194 c 12 September 2011
HD 39194 d 12 September 2011
HD 45184 b 12 September 2011
HD 51608 b 12 September 2011
HD 51608 c 12 September 2011
HD 93385 b 12 September 2011
HD 93385 c 12 September 2011
HD 96700 b 12 September 2011
HD 96700 c 12 September 2011
HD 126525 b 12 September 2011
HD 134060 b 12 September 2011
HD 134060 c 12 September 2011
HD 134606 b 12 September 2011
HD 134606 c 12 September 2011
HD 134606 d 12 September 2011
Nu2 Lupi b 12 September 2011
Nu2 Lupi c 12 September 2011
Nu2 Lupi d 12 September 2011
HD 150433 b 12 September 2011
HD 154088 b 12 September 2011
HD 157172 b 12 September 2011
HD 189567 b 12 September 2011
HD 204313 c 12 September 2011
HD 215152 b 12 September 2011
HD 215152 c 12 September 2011
HD 215456 b 12 September 2011
HD 215456 c 12 September 2011
Gliese 667 Cc 21 November 2011
HD 10180 i 5 April 2012
HD 10180 j 5 April 2012
GJ 3470 b 22 June 2012
Gliese 676 c 29 June 2012
Gliese 676 d 29 June 2012
Gliese 676 e 29 June 2012
Gliese 163 b 6 September 2012
Gliese 163 c 6 September 2012
Gliese 667 Cd 25 June 2013
Gliese 667 Ce 25 June 2013
Gliese 667 Cf 25 June 2013
Gliese 667 Cg 25 June 2013

See also

ESO 3.6-metre telescope is home to the world's foremost exoplanet hunter, HARPS.[11]

Similar instruments:

Space based detectors :

References

  1. Mayor; Pepe, F.; Queloz, D.; Bouchy, F.; Rupprecht, G.; Lo Curto, G.; Avila, G.; Benz, W.; Bertaux, J.-L.; et al. (2003). "Setting New Standards With HARPS" (PDF). ESO Messenger. 114: 20. Bibcode:2003Msngr.114...20M.
  2. "32 planets discovered outside solar system - CNN.com". CNN. 19 October 2009. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
  3. "ESPRESSO – Searching for other Worlds". Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto. 16 December 2009. Retrieved 2010-10-16.
  4. citation needed
  5. "The exoplanet hunter HARPS: unequalled accuracy and perspectives toward 1 cm.s-1 precision" (PDF). ESO. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  6. citation needed
  7. Carrier; Eggenberger, P; Leyder, J-C (2008). "Asteroseismology of solar-type stars: particular physical effects" (PDF). Journal of Physics: Conference Series. 118 (1): 012047. Bibcode:2008JPhCS.118a2047C. doi:10.1088/1742-6596/118/1/012047.
  8. Mayor; et al. (2009). "The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets,XVIII. An Earth-mass planet in the GJ 581 planetary system". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 507 (1): 487–494. Bibcode:2009A&A...507..487M. arXiv:0906.2780Freely accessible. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/200912172.
  9. An Earth mass planet orbiting Alpha Centauri B
  10. http://www.eso.org/public/unitedkingdom/images/ann13075a/
  11. "A Sparkling Ribbon of Stars — The Southern Milky Way over La Silla". ESO Picture of the Week. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
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