Magellan Planet Search Program
Encyclopedia
Spectrometer
A spectrometer is an instrument used to measure properties of light over a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically used in spectroscopic analysis to identify materials. The variable measured is most often the light's intensity but could also, for instance, be the polarization...
mounted on the Magellan Telescopes
Magellan telescopes
The Magellan Telescopes are a pair of 6.5 m diameter optical telescopes located at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. The two telescopes are named after the astronomer Walter Baade and the philanthropist Landon T...
which are twin, 6.5m Magellan II (Clay) telescope located within the Las Campanas Observatory
Las Campanas Observatory
Las Campanas Observatory is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the Carnegie Institution for Science It was established in 1969 and remains the primary observing site of that institution. The headquarters is located in La Serena, Chile and the observatory is in the southern Atacama...
in Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
.
Specifications
The MIKE echelle spectograph works at a resolutionEmission spectrum
The emission spectrum of a chemical element or chemical compound is the spectrum of frequencies of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the element's atoms or the compound's molecules when they are returned to a lower energy state....
of R ~ 50,000 when gathering spectra
Spectrum
A spectrum is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary infinitely within a continuum. The word saw its first scientific use within the field of optics to describe the rainbow of colors in visible light when separated using a prism; it has since been applied by...
that covers a wavelength 3900 to 6200 Å. MIKE is divided into a red and blue CCD. The blue CCD captures stellar activities while the red CCD falls into a temperature controlled Iodine absorption cell
Radioactive iodine uptake test
The radioactive iodine uptake test, or RAIU test, is a type of scan used in the diagnosis of thyroid problems, particularly hyperthyroidism. It is entirely different from radioactive iodine therapy , which uses much higher doses to destroy cancerous cells...
is mounted in front of the MIKE entrance slit, this imprints iodine spectrum referencing directly to starlight.
Observations
The program is surveying approximately 400 starStar
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
s which ranges from F7 to M5 type stars
Stellar classification
In astronomy, stellar classification is a classification of stars based on their spectral characteristics. The spectral class of a star is a designated class of a star describing the ionization of its chromosphere, what atomic excitations are most prominent in the light, giving an objective measure...
. The stars included in the program has been chosen to minimize overlapping surveys with both Anglo-Australian Planet Search (AAT)
Anglo-Australian Planet Search
The Anglo-Australian Planet Search or AAPS is a long-term astronomical survey started in 1998 and continuing to the present. It is being carried out on the 3.9m Anglo-Australian Telescope, AAT, of the Anglo-Australian Observatory in Australia. The purpose of this survey is to catalog planets around...
and the KECK programs. Any star with larger jitters have been removed from the program specifically those that has 2 magnitudes above the main sequence when basing it from Hipparcos distances
Hipparcos
Hipparcos was a scientific mission of the European Space Agency , launched in 1989 and operated between 1989 and 1993. It was the first space experiment devoted to precision astrometry, the accurate measurement of the positions of celestial objects on the sky...
. The Magellan Planet Search Program has discovered 5 eccentric Jupiter-mass planets. Announcement was made in January 2010, regarding the discovery of the 5 long period extra-solar planets from Magellan velocity surveys. They were found orbiting G and K type dwarfs which are jovian-mass planets in both long-period and eccentric orbits.
Extrasolar planets discovered
As of January 2010 the program has discovered 9 extra-solar planets and astronomical objectsAstronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
including the 5 eccentric Jupiter-mass planets.
- HD 48265 bHD 48265 bHD 48265 b is an extrasolar planet located approximately 285 light-years away in the constellation of Puppis, orbiting the 8th magnitude G-type main sequence star HD 48265. This planet has a minimum mass of 1.2 times that of Jupiter. Because the inclination is not known, the true mass is not known...
- HD 86226 bHD 86226 bThis planet is a eccentric Jupiter gas giant discovered by the Magellan Planet Search Program in 2010....
- HD 129445 bHD 129445 bThis planet is a eccentric Jupiter gas giant discovered by the Magellan Planet Search Program in 2010....
- HD 143361 bHD 143361 bHD 143361 b is an extrasolar planet located approximately 194 light-years away in the constellation of Norma, orbiting the 9th magnitude G-type main sequence star HD 143361. This planet has a minimum mass of 3.0 times that of Jupiter. Because the inclination is not known, the true mass is not known...
- HD 152079 bHD 152079 bThis planet is a eccentric Jupiter gas giant discovered by the Magellan Planet Search Program in 2010....
- HD 164604 bHD 164604 bHD 164604 b has 2.7 times the mass of Jupiter and takes 606.4 days to orbit its star....
- HD 175167 bHD 175167 bHD 175167 b is an extra-solar planet orbiting HD 175167, which is a G type star within the Pavo constellation around 219 light years away from the Earth. The planet was discovered by the Magellan Planet Search Program as the astronomical object fit the Keplerian orbital model...
- HD 28185 bHD 28185 bHD 28185 b is an extrasolar planet approximately 138 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Eridanus. The planet was discovered orbiting the Sun-like star HD 28185 in April 2001 as a part of the CORALIE survey for southern extrasolar planets, and its existence was independently...
- HD 111232 bHD 111232 bHD 111232 b is an extrasolar planet that orbits almost 2 AU with a mass of at least 6.8 times that of Jupiter. This planet was discovered in the La Silla Observatory by Michel Mayor using the CORALIE spectrograph on 30 June 2003, along with six other planets, including HD 41004 Ab, HD 65216 b, HD...