Mitteilung
Das La-Silla-Observatorium der ESO wird Heimat eines neuen Planetenjägers
1. September 2017
Ein leistungsfähiges neues Instrument namens NIRPS (Near Infra Red Planet Searcher) wird am 3.6-Meter-Teleskop der ESO am La-Silla-Observatorium in Chile installiert. NIRPS ist ein hochauflösender Radialgeschwindigkeits-Infrarot-Spektrograf, der entworfen wurde, um erdähnliche Gesteinsplaneten um kühle Sterne zu finden, und wurde von einer internationalen Kollaboration [1] unter der gemeinsamen Leitung des Institute for Research on Exoplanets (iREx) an der Université de Montréal und der Astronomieabteilung an der Université de Genève gebaut.
Die förmliche Vereinbarung, NIRPS zu den Instrumenten der ESO-Teleskope hinzuzufügen, wurde von Tim de Zeeuw, dem Generaldirektor der ESO, Marie-Josée Hébert, Vize-Rektor für Forschung, Entdeckung, Gestaltung und Innovation an der Université de Montréal und Michel Oris, Vize-Rektor an der Université de Genève unterzeichnet.
NIRPS ergänzt das HARPS-Instrument (High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher), das derzeit am 3.6-Meter-Teleskop am La-Silla-Observatorium in Chile angebracht ist. HARPS ist das weltweit produktivste Instrument zur Planetenjagd, das die Radialgeschwindigkeitsmethode nutzt und hat unser Verständnis von exoplanetaren Systemen revolutioniert. NIRPS wird der "rote Arm" von HARPS werden und den Arbeitesbereich des Teleskops in den Infrarotbereich verlängern. Damit erlaubt er Astronominnen und Astronomen, Planetensysteme zu charakterisieren. Die ESO wird dem NIRPS-Team 725 Beobachtungsnächte über einen Zeitraum von fünf Jahren zuteilen.
Das Hauptziel von NIRPS ist es, die Radialgeschwindigkeitsmethode zu verwenden, um Planeten zu erkennen und zu charakterisieren, die kühle, rote und massearme Sterne des M-Typs umkreisen. Insbesondere zielt NIRPS darauf ab, erdähnliche Gesteinsplaneten zu finden, die möglicherweise bewohnbar sind. M-Sterne sind von besonderem Interesse, weil die von einem umkreisenden Planeten verursachten radialen Geschwindigkeitsschwankungen bei einem massearmen Stern größer sind als bei einem sonnenähnlichen Stern und ihre Planeten - auch die in der bewohnbaren Zone - daher leichter zu erkennen sind. NIRPS wird im Infrarotlicht arbeiten, da dies der Hauptbereich der Wellenlängen ist, die von solchen kleinen, kühlen Sternen emittiert werden. Für rote Sterne, die die häufigste Art in unserer solaren Nachbarschaft sind, wird erwartet, dass NIRPS Daten produziert, die mindestens ebenso genau sind wie die Daten, die derzeit mit dem HARPS-Instrument verfügbar sind.
NIRPS wird voraussichtlich im letzten Quartal 2019 das erste Licht sehen.
Endnoten
[1] Die Teilnehmer der Kollaboration sind: iREx an der Université de Montréal in Kanada, die Astronomieabteilung an der Université de Genève in der Schweiz, die Université de Grenoble in Frankreich; das Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias in Spanien, das NRC Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics im kanadischen Victoria, das Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço, die Universität Porto und Lissabon in Portugal, das Instituto Mauá de Tecnologia in Brasilien und die Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte in Brasilien.
Weitere Infomationen
Die erste Phase des NIRPS-Projekts wird die Installation eines neuen Cassegrain-Adapters beinhalten, um den aktuell auf dem ESO-3,6-Meter-Teleskop installierten zu ersetzen. Diese neue Einheit wird die Fähigkeit einer adaptiven Optik erhalten und wird mit dem HARPS-Spektrografen in Betrieb genommen. In der Zwischenzeit wird das NIRPS-Instrument in Kanada montiert und getestet und danach mit dem neuen Cassegrain-Adapter am Teleskop integriert.
Links
Kontaktinformationen
Hans-Ulrich Käufl
ESO
Garching bei München
Tel: +49 89 3200 6414
E-Mail: hukaufl@eso.org
Rene Doyon
Université de Montréal
Montréal, Kanada
Tel: +1 514-343-6111 x 3204
E-Mail: doyon@astro.umontreal.ca
François Bouchy
Observatoire de Geneve
Versoix, Schweiz
Tel: +41 22 379 23 96
E-Mail: francois.bouchy@unige.ch
Richard Hook
ESO Public Information Officer
Garching bei München
Tel: +49 89 3200 6655
E-Mail: rhook@eso.org
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