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J. C. van Eyken, J. Ge, S. Mahadevan, C. DeWitt, A. Vanden Heuvel, R. Cohen (U. Florida)
We have commissioned a new type of radial velocity (RV) survey instrument, Exoplanet Tracker (ET) at the Kitt Peak 2.1m telescope. It is a fiber-fed, fixed-delay Michelson interferometer followed by a medium resolution visual band spectrograph grating, and is designed for high precision Doppler measurements to search for extrasolar planets. The spectral format and inherent high throughput of this kind of instrument allows the potential for multi-object operation. ET is a single object prototype which will serve as a forerunner and later as a follow-up instrument for a planned multi-object RV instrument at the Sloan telescope.
ET has been able to confirm the known planetary companion to 51 Peg and preliminary reduction of more recent data indicates successful detection of the known companions to HD130322 and HD179949, demonstrating the ability of ET to reach down to at least V=8.05 stars. We have demonstrated a best short term precision of 3.6m/s at V=4.8 over two days. Here we will present commissioning results using ET, including data obtained over the last year and some preliminary results from an engineering run planned for November 2004.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 5
© 2004. The American Astronomical Society.