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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
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Abstract

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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 

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