Radial Velocity Analysis with the SFSU Echelle Spectrograph at UCB Leuschner Observatory
By: Alan B. Chew
Department: Astronomy
Faculty Advisors: Dr. John Michael Brewer
Can Radial Velocity analysis of exoplanet candidate stars be conducted using an affordable echelle spectrograph on a small (< 1 meter diameter) telescope?
This is the question to be addressed at SFSU by mounting and commissioning a commercially available fiber-fed echelle spectrograph with medium (R~10,000) resolution onto UC Berkeley’s 30” Telescope at Leuschner Observatory. This project will test the instrument’s capabilities to detect known exoplanets orbiting their host stars using the radial velocity (Doppler Effect) method. The limit of detection will determine how capable the Leuschner telescope-spectrograph combination will be for future research such as detecting exoplanets around Kepler Space Telescope and TESS candidate stars.