Abstract

Near-infrared m/s velocimetry: preparing the JWST era in exoplanet characterization

Etienne Artigau (Université de Montréal/iREx)

Étienne Artigau, René Doyon, Jean-François Donati, François Bouchy, Claudio Melo, Xavier Delfosse, Pedro Figueira, Christophe Lovis

Optical velocimetry has been around for more than two decades and largely dedicated to RV monitoring of G, K and early-Ms. As optical velocimetry does not probe the bulk of the SED of later-type stars, it has long been recognized that near-infrared (nIR) velocimetry is key towards the characterization of M dwarf planetary system. SPIRou and NIRPS are two nIR velocimeters developed by overlapping science teams. SPIRou is a spectro-polarimeter covering the 0.98-2.38µm domain. It is currently ongoing construction for first light at the CFHT in 2017. NIRPS is in its final design stages and will be used simultaneously with HARPS at the ESO 3.6-m telescope. The HARPS+NIRPS setup will provide 0.38-0.69µm and 0.98-1.8µm coverage at a resolving power of 100 000.

These instruments will be used to perform RV follow-up of transiting planets uncovered around M dwarfs by K2, TESS and ground-based transit searches. RV follow-ups will guide the efforts to obtain detailed atmospheric characterization of super-Earths and terrestrial planets with JWST. M dwarf planets are the most amenable to transit spectroscopy thanks to their favorable star-to-planet radius ratio.

Mode of presentation: poster