Collaborative Research: Development of a Green-Orange Astro-comb for Exoplanet and Cosmology Research

合作研究：开发用于系外行星和宇宙学研究的绿橙色天文梳

• 批准号: 1006503
• 负责人: Ronald Walsworth
• 金额: $ 32.5万
• 依托单位: Harvard University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-01 至 2014-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1006503&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Development; Green; Orange

The high-dispersion optical spectrographs that have thus far enabled the discovery of more than 400 extrasolar planets have a common susceptibility: the need for ultrastable, broadband, high-line-density, bright, and continuous wavelength calibration so that the small reflex velocities of the host stars can be precisely characterized over periods of weeks to years. One crucial technology for these investigations utilizes a mode-locked femtosecond pulsed laser - which produces a bright, regularly spaced set of emission features in frequency space - together with a Fabry-Perot filtering cavity to create the appropriate line-density, all locked to an atomic clock for long-term stability. These so-called "laser combs" have the potential for enabling radial velocity measurements to a precision 10 cm/s; thus the determination of the mass of Earth-like exoplanets should eventually be possible.Dr. Ronald Walsworth of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and Dr. Franz Kaertner of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are planning to construct such a laser comb for the orange-green spectrum, a region well-suited to the detection of solar-type stars and therefore of stars in which a planet with an orbital period of ~1 yr would exist in the "life-zone", where surface water would be in liquid form. The team of investigators has an excellent track record in this area, having developed laser combs for the optical red and blue spectral regions. The new comb will be tested at the 1.5-m Whipple Observatory telescope on Mt. Hopkins, Az, and, when proven reliable, applied to an ongoing project at the 1.5-m telescope at Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory that is searching for exo-Earths orbiting stars in the very nearby alpha/beta-Centaurus star system. The activity will involve both women as both scientists and students, and the resulting time-controlled laser technology should have application well beyond astronomy. Funding for this work is being provided by NSF's Division of Astronomical Sciences through its Advanced Technologies and Instrumentation program.

到目前为止，高分散光谱仪的发现能够发现超过400个极性行星具有共同的敏感性：需要超高，宽带，高线密度，明亮和连续的波长校准，以使小型反射速度的小反射速度可以在数周到几年的时间内精确地表征宿主星。 这些研究中的一项至关重要的技术利用了模式锁定的飞秒脉冲激光器 - 在频率空间中产生明亮的，规则间隔的发射特征 - 以及Fabry-perot滤波过滤腔，以创建适当的生产线密度，全部锁定为原子钟，以实现长期稳定性。 这些所谓的“激光梳”具有使径向速度测量值的可能性10 cm/s的潜力；因此，最终应该有可能确定地球样系外行星的质量。哈佛大学天体物理学中心的罗纳德·沃尔斯沃斯（Ronald Walsworth）和马萨诸塞州理工学院的弗朗兹·卡特纳（Franz Kaertner）因此，在“救生区”中，地表水以液态形式存在约1年的恒星将存在约1年的恒星。 调查人员团队在该地区拥有出色的往绩，并为光学红色和蓝色光谱区域开发了激光梳。 新梳子将在AZ霍普金斯山的1.5米Whipple天文台望远镜上进行测试，并在可靠的可靠时，将其应用于Cerro Tololo Intererican Intererican Perservatory的1.5 m望远镜的正在进行的项目，该项目正在寻找Exo-Earths在附近的Alpha/beta-Centaurus星系中绕着旋转的星星。 这项活动将涉及妇女作为科学家和学生，而由此产生的时间控制的激光技术应具有远远超出天文学的应用。 NSF的天文学科学部通过其先进的技术和仪器计划提供了这项工作的资金。