Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T05:58:17.184Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Campaign for the Detection of Earth-Mass Planets in the Habitable Zone of Alpha Centauri

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 April 2014

Robert A. Wittenmyer ,
Michael Endl ,
Christoph Bergmann ,
John Hearnshaw ,
Stuart I. Barnes  and
Duncan Wright
Robert A. Wittenmyer
Affiliation:
Department of Astrophysics, School of Physics, Faculty of Science, The University of New South Wales, 2052, Australia email: rob@phys.unsw.edu.au
Michael Endl
Affiliation:
McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
Christoph Bergmann
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8011, New Zealand
John Hearnshaw
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8011, New Zealand
Stuart I. Barnes
Affiliation:
McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8011, New Zealand
Duncan Wright
Affiliation:
Department of Astrophysics, School of Physics, Faculty of Science, The University of New South Wales, 2052, Australia email: rob@phys.unsw.edu.au
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

We review the possible formation and orbital stability of Earth-mass or super Earth-mass planets around either of the stars Alpha Centauri A or B and describe a program at Mt John University Observatory using the Doppler method that aims to detect such planets. From New Zealand, we are able to observe the Alpha Centauri system year-round. This is critical in order to acquire data of sufficient quantity and phase coverage to detect the orbit of a terrestrial-mass planet in the habitable zone. Our observations are being made at high resolution (R = 70,000) and high signal-to-noise with the Hercules vacuum echelle spectrograph attached to the 1-m McLellan telescope by a 25-m long optical fibre and using an iodine cell. We discuss the velocity precision and instrumental stability required for success and outline the progress of the observations so far. At present we are collecting about 10,000 observations of each star, A and B, per year with a typical precision of 2.5 m/s per observation.

Keywords

stars: individual (α Centauri)(stars:) binaries: spectroscopictechniques: radial velocitiesmethods: data analysis
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 8 , Symposium S293: Formation, Detection, and Characterization of Extrasolar Habitable Planets , August 2012 , pp. 58 - 64
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2014 

References

Ayres, T. R. 2009, ApJ, 696, 1931Google Scholar
Batalha, N. M., Rowe, J. F., Bryson, S. T., et al. 2012, ApJS, 204, article id. 24Google Scholar
Bedding, T. R., Kjeldsen, H., Butler, R. P., et al. 2004, ApJ, 614, 380CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borucki, W. J., Koch, D., Basri, G., et al. 2010, Science, 327, 977Google Scholar
Butler, R. P., Bedding, T. R., Kjeldsen, H., et al. 2004, ApJL, 600, L75Google Scholar
Cochran, W. D., & Hatzes, A. P. 1996, Ap&SS, 241, 43Google Scholar
Dumusque, X., Pepe, F., Lovis, C., et al. 2012, Nature, 491, 207Google Scholar
Duquennoy, A. & Mayor, M. 1991, A&A, 248, 485Google Scholar
Endl, M., Kürster, M., & Els, S. 2000, A&A, 362, 585Google Scholar
Endl, M., Robertson, P., Cochran, W. D., et al. 2012, ApJ, 759, 19Google Scholar
Gautier, T. N. III, Batalha, N. M., Borucki, W. J., et al. 2010, arXiv:1001.0352Google Scholar
Gould, A., Udalski, A., An, D., et al. 2006, ApJL, 644, L37Google Scholar
Guedes, J. M., Rivera, E. J., Davis, E., et al. 2008, ApJ, 679, 1582Google Scholar
Haghighipour, N. & Raymond, S. N. 2007, ApJ, 666, 436CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hatzes, A. P. 2013, ApJ, 770, 133Google Scholar
Hearnshaw, J. B., Barnes, S. I., Kershaw, G. M., Frost, N., Graham, G., & Ritchie, R., Nankivell, G. R. 2002, Exp. Astron., 13, 59Google Scholar
Hearnshaw, J. B., Barnes, S. I., & Endl, M. 2009, Proc. 10th Asian-Pacific Regional IAU Meeting 2008, 350.Google Scholar
Heintz, W. D. 1982, The Observatory, 102, 42Google Scholar
Howard, A. W., Marcy, G. W., Bryson, S. T., et al. 2012, ApJS, 201, 15CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ida, S. & Lin, D. N. C. 2004, ApJ, 604, 388Google Scholar
Kjeldsen, H., Bedding, T. R., Butler, R. P., et al. 2005, ApJ, 635, 1281Google Scholar
Kürster, M., Endl, M., Els, S., et al. 2000, A&A, 353, L33Google Scholar
Mayor, M., Udry, S., Lovis, C., et al. 2009, A&A, 493, 639Google Scholar
Murdoch, K. A., Hearnshaw, J. B., & Clark, M. 1993, ApJ, 413, 349Google Scholar
Narayan, R., Cumming, A., & Lin, D. N. C. 2005, ApJ, 620, 1002Google Scholar
O'Toole, S., Tinney, C. G., Butler, R. P., et al. 2009a, ApJ, 697, 1263Google Scholar
O'Toole, S. J., Jones, H. R. A., Tinney, C. G., et al. 2009b, ApJ, 701, 1732CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pourbaix, D., Neuforge-Verheecke, C., & Noels, A. 1999, A&A, 344, 172Google Scholar
Pourbaix, D., Nidever, D., McCarthy, C., Butler, R. P., Tinney, C. G., Marcy, G. W., Jones, H. R. A., Penny, A. J., Carter, B. D., Bouchy, F., Pepe, F., Hearnshaw, J. B., Skuljan, J., Ramm, D., & Kent, D. 2002, A&A, 386, 280Google Scholar
Queloz, D., Henry, G. W., Sivan, J. P., et al. 2001, A&A, 379, 279Google Scholar
Quintana, E. V., Lissauer, J. J., Chambers, J. E., & Duncan, M. J. 2002, ApJ, 576, 982Google Scholar
Quintana, E. V. & Lissauer, J. J. 2006, Icarus, 185, 1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quintana, E. V., Adams, F. C., Lissauer, J. J., & Chambers, J. E. 2007, ApJ, 660, 807Google Scholar
Robertson, P., Endl, M., Cochran, W. D., et al. 2012, ApJ, 749, 39Google Scholar
Thébault, P., Marzari, F., & Scholl, H. 2008, MNRAS, 388, 1528CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thébault, P., Marzari, F., & Scholl, H. 2009, MNRAS, 393, L21CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tinney, C. G., Wittenmyer, R. A., Butler, R. P., et al. 2011, ApJ, 732, 31Google Scholar
Walker, G. A. H., Walker, A. R., Irwin, A. W., et al. 1995, Icarus, 116, 359Google Scholar
Wittenmyer, R. A., Endl, M., Wang, L., et al. 2011, ApJ, 743, 184CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xie, J.-W., Zhou, J.-L., & Ge, J. 2010, ApJ, 708, 1566Google Scholar
Xie, J.-W., Zhou, J.-L., & Ge, J. 2011, European Physical Journal Web of Conferences, 16, 5003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhou, J.-L., Aarseth, S. J., Lin, D. N. C., & Nagasawa, M. 2005, ApJL, 631, L85Google Scholar