The Extreme Stellar-signals Project. III. Combining Solar Data from HARPS, HARPS-N, EXPRES, and NEID

Lily L. Zhao; Xavier Dumusque; Eric B. Ford; Joe Llama; Annelies Mortier; Megan Bedell; Khaled Al Moulla; Chad F. Bender; Cullen H. Blake; John M. Brewer; Andrew Collier Cameron; Rosario Cosentino; Pedro Figueira; Debra A. Fischer; Adriano Ghedina; Manuel Gonzalez; Samuel Halverson; Shubham Kanodia; David W. Latham; Andrea S. J. Lin; Gaspare Lo Curto; Marcello Lodi; Sarah E. Logsdon; Christophe Lovis; Suvrath Mahadevan; Andrew Monson; Joe P. Ninan; Francesco Pepe; Rachael M. Roettenbacher; Arpita Roy; Nuno C. Santos; Christian Schwab; Guđmundur Stefánsson; Andrew E. Szymkowiak; Ryan C. Terrien; Stephane Udry; Sam A. Weiss; François Wildi; Thibault Wildi; Jason T. Wright

doi:10.3847/1538-3881/acf83e

The Extreme Stellar-signals Project. III. Combining Solar Data from HARPS, HARPS-N, EXPRES, and NEID

Lily L. Zhao^*, Xavier Dumusque, Eric B. Ford, Joe Llama, Annelies Mortier, Megan Bedell, Khaled Al Moulla, Chad F. Bender, Cullen H. Blake, John M. Brewer, Andrew Collier Cameron, Rosario Cosentino, Pedro Figueira, Debra A. Fischer, Adriano Ghedina, Manuel Gonzalez, Samuel Halverson, Shubham Kanodia, David W. Latham, Andrea S. J. LinGaspare Lo Curto, Marcello Lodi, Sarah E. Logsdon, Christophe Lovis, Suvrath Mahadevan, Andrew Monson, Joe P. Ninan, Francesco Pepe, Rachael M. Roettenbacher, Arpita Roy, Nuno C. Santos, Christian Schwab, Guđmundur Stefánsson, Andrew E. Szymkowiak, Ryan C. Terrien, Stephane Udry, Sam A. Weiss, François Wildi, Thibault Wildi, Jason T. Wright

^*Corresponding author for this work

Physics and Astronomy

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Abstract

We present an analysis of Sun-as-a-star observations from four different high-resolution, stabilized spectrographs—HARPS, HARPS-N, EXPRES, and NEID. With simultaneous observations of the Sun from four different instruments, we are able to gain insight into the radial velocity precision and accuracy delivered by each of these instruments and isolate instrumental systematics that differ from true astrophysical signals. With solar observations, we can completely characterize the expected Doppler shift contributed by orbiting Solar System bodies and remove them. This results in a data set with measured velocity variations that purely trace flows on the solar surface. Direct comparisons of the radial velocities measured by each instrument show remarkable agreement with residual intraday scatter of only 15–30 cm s⁻¹. This shows that current ultra-stabilized instruments have broken through to a new level of measurement precision that reveals stellar variability with high fidelity and detail. We end by discussing how radial velocities from different instruments can be combined to provide powerful leverage for testing techniques to mitigate stellar signals.

Original language	English
Article number	173
Number of pages	17
Journal	The Astronomical Journal
Volume	166
Issue number	4
Early online date	27 Sept 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/acf83e
Publication status	Published - 1 Oct 2023

Keywords

Spectrometers
Radial velocity
Astronomical instrumentation
Exoplanet detection methods
Stellar activity
Solar activity

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Zhao, L. L., Dumusque, X., Ford, E. B., Llama, J., Mortier, A., Bedell, M., Al Moulla, K., Bender, C. F., Blake, C. H., Brewer, J. M., Collier Cameron, A., Cosentino, R., Figueira, P., Fischer, D. A., Ghedina, A., Gonzalez, M., Halverson, S., Kanodia, S., Latham, D. W., ... Wright, J. T. (2023). The Extreme Stellar-signals Project. III. Combining Solar Data from HARPS, HARPS-N, EXPRES, and NEID. The Astronomical Journal, 166(4), Article 173. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/acf83e

@article{26c0524aa46e4f98a74743548863e5f1,

title = "The Extreme Stellar-signals Project. III. Combining Solar Data from HARPS, HARPS-N, EXPRES, and NEID",

abstract = "We present an analysis of Sun-as-a-star observations from four different high-resolution, stabilized spectrographs—HARPS, HARPS-N, EXPRES, and NEID. With simultaneous observations of the Sun from four different instruments, we are able to gain insight into the radial velocity precision and accuracy delivered by each of these instruments and isolate instrumental systematics that differ from true astrophysical signals. With solar observations, we can completely characterize the expected Doppler shift contributed by orbiting Solar System bodies and remove them. This results in a data set with measured velocity variations that purely trace flows on the solar surface. Direct comparisons of the radial velocities measured by each instrument show remarkable agreement with residual intraday scatter of only 15–30 cm s−1. This shows that current ultra-stabilized instruments have broken through to a new level of measurement precision that reveals stellar variability with high fidelity and detail. We end by discussing how radial velocities from different instruments can be combined to provide powerful leverage for testing techniques to mitigate stellar signals.",

keywords = "Spectrometers, Radial velocity, Astronomical instrumentation, Exoplanet detection methods, Stellar activity, Solar activity",

author = "Zhao, {Lily L.} and Xavier Dumusque and Ford, {Eric B.} and Joe Llama and Annelies Mortier and Megan Bedell and {Al Moulla}, Khaled and Bender, {Chad F.} and Blake, {Cullen H.} and Brewer, {John M.} and {Collier Cameron}, Andrew and Rosario Cosentino and Pedro Figueira and Fischer, {Debra A.} and Adriano Ghedina and Manuel Gonzalez and Samuel Halverson and Shubham Kanodia and Latham, {David W.} and Lin, {Andrea S. J.} and {Lo Curto}, Gaspare and Marcello Lodi and Logsdon, {Sarah E.} and Christophe Lovis and Suvrath Mahadevan and Andrew Monson and Ninan, {Joe P.} and Francesco Pepe and Roettenbacher, {Rachael M.} and Arpita Roy and Santos, {Nuno C.} and Christian Schwab and Gu{\d}mundur Stef{\'a}nsson and Szymkowiak, {Andrew E.} and Terrien, {Ryan C.} and Stephane Udry and Weiss, {Sam A.} and Fran{\c c}ois Wildi and Thibault Wildi and Wright, {Jason T.}",

year = "2023",

month = oct,

day = "1",

doi = "10.3847/1538-3881/acf83e",

language = "English",

volume = "166",

journal = "The Astronomical Journal",

issn = "0004-6256",

publisher = "American Astronomical Society",

number = "4",

}

Zhao, LL, Dumusque, X, Ford, EB, Llama, J, Mortier, A, Bedell, M, Al Moulla, K, Bender, CF, Blake, CH, Brewer, JM, Collier Cameron, A, Cosentino, R, Figueira, P, Fischer, DA, Ghedina, A, Gonzalez, M, Halverson, S, Kanodia, S, Latham, DW, Lin, ASJ, Lo Curto, G, Lodi, M, Logsdon, SE, Lovis, C, Mahadevan, S, Monson, A, Ninan, JP, Pepe, F, Roettenbacher, RM, Roy, A, Santos, NC, Schwab, C, Stefánsson, G, Szymkowiak, AE, Terrien, RC, Udry, S, Weiss, SA, Wildi, F, Wildi, T & Wright, JT 2023, 'The Extreme Stellar-signals Project. III. Combining Solar Data from HARPS, HARPS-N, EXPRES, and NEID', The Astronomical Journal, vol. 166, no. 4, 173. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/acf83e

TY - JOUR

T1 - The Extreme Stellar-signals Project. III. Combining Solar Data from HARPS, HARPS-N, EXPRES, and NEID

AU - Zhao, Lily L.

AU - Dumusque, Xavier

AU - Ford, Eric B.

AU - Llama, Joe

AU - Mortier, Annelies

AU - Bedell, Megan

AU - Al Moulla, Khaled

AU - Bender, Chad F.

AU - Blake, Cullen H.

AU - Brewer, John M.

AU - Collier Cameron, Andrew

AU - Cosentino, Rosario

AU - Figueira, Pedro

AU - Fischer, Debra A.

AU - Ghedina, Adriano

AU - Gonzalez, Manuel

AU - Halverson, Samuel

AU - Kanodia, Shubham

AU - Latham, David W.

AU - Lin, Andrea S. J.

AU - Lo Curto, Gaspare

AU - Lodi, Marcello

AU - Logsdon, Sarah E.

AU - Lovis, Christophe

AU - Mahadevan, Suvrath

AU - Monson, Andrew

AU - Ninan, Joe P.

AU - Pepe, Francesco

AU - Roettenbacher, Rachael M.

AU - Roy, Arpita

AU - Santos, Nuno C.

AU - Schwab, Christian

AU - Stefánsson, Guđmundur

AU - Szymkowiak, Andrew E.

AU - Terrien, Ryan C.

AU - Udry, Stephane

AU - Weiss, Sam A.

AU - Wildi, François

AU - Wildi, Thibault

AU - Wright, Jason T.

PY - 2023/10/1

Y1 - 2023/10/1

N2 - We present an analysis of Sun-as-a-star observations from four different high-resolution, stabilized spectrographs—HARPS, HARPS-N, EXPRES, and NEID. With simultaneous observations of the Sun from four different instruments, we are able to gain insight into the radial velocity precision and accuracy delivered by each of these instruments and isolate instrumental systematics that differ from true astrophysical signals. With solar observations, we can completely characterize the expected Doppler shift contributed by orbiting Solar System bodies and remove them. This results in a data set with measured velocity variations that purely trace flows on the solar surface. Direct comparisons of the radial velocities measured by each instrument show remarkable agreement with residual intraday scatter of only 15–30 cm s−1. This shows that current ultra-stabilized instruments have broken through to a new level of measurement precision that reveals stellar variability with high fidelity and detail. We end by discussing how radial velocities from different instruments can be combined to provide powerful leverage for testing techniques to mitigate stellar signals.

AB - We present an analysis of Sun-as-a-star observations from four different high-resolution, stabilized spectrographs—HARPS, HARPS-N, EXPRES, and NEID. With simultaneous observations of the Sun from four different instruments, we are able to gain insight into the radial velocity precision and accuracy delivered by each of these instruments and isolate instrumental systematics that differ from true astrophysical signals. With solar observations, we can completely characterize the expected Doppler shift contributed by orbiting Solar System bodies and remove them. This results in a data set with measured velocity variations that purely trace flows on the solar surface. Direct comparisons of the radial velocities measured by each instrument show remarkable agreement with residual intraday scatter of only 15–30 cm s−1. This shows that current ultra-stabilized instruments have broken through to a new level of measurement precision that reveals stellar variability with high fidelity and detail. We end by discussing how radial velocities from different instruments can be combined to provide powerful leverage for testing techniques to mitigate stellar signals.

KW - Spectrometers

KW - Radial velocity

KW - Astronomical instrumentation

KW - Exoplanet detection methods

KW - Stellar activity

KW - Solar activity

U2 - 10.3847/1538-3881/acf83e

DO - 10.3847/1538-3881/acf83e

M3 - Article

SN - 0004-6256

VL - 166

JO - The Astronomical Journal

JF - The Astronomical Journal

IS - 4

M1 - 173

ER -

The Extreme Stellar-signals Project. III. Combining Solar Data from HARPS, HARPS-N, EXPRES, and NEID

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Keywords

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