Radial velocity (RV) surveys supported by high precision wavelength references (notably ThAr lamps and I2 cells) have successfully identified hundreds of exoplanets; however, as the search for exoplanets moves to cooler, lower mass stars, the optimum wave band for observation for these objects moves into the near infrared (NIR) and new wavelength standards are required. To address this need we are following up our successful deployment of an H band(1.45-1.7μm) laser frequency comb based wavelength reference with a comb working in the Y and J bands (0.98-1.3μm). This comb will be optimized for use with a 50,000 resolution NIR spectrograph such as the Penn State Habitable Zone Planet Finder. We present design and performance details of the current Y+J band comb.

Date Published: 13 September 2012
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 8450, Modern Technologies in Space- and Ground-based Telescopes and Instrumentation II, 84501I (13 September 2012); doi: 10.1117/12.926868

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8450:
Modern Technologies in Space- and Ground-based Telescopes and Instrumentation II
Ramón Navarro; Colin R. Cunningham; Eric Prieto, Editor(s)