Vulcan South: Searching for exoplanets from the South Pole

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Vulcan South Searching for exoplanets from the
South Pole

• Jessie Christiansen
• Stromlo Christmas Seminars
• Friday 10th December, 2004

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How to find an exoplanet

• Transit search probability of favourable
  alignment of observer/exoplanet/host star so that
  transit is visible is small (10 for Jupiter,
  0.5 for Earth)
• Numbers game need to make choices which
  maximise the chances of observing a transit,
  including strategy, filters, fields and observing
  site
• So why go to the South Pole?

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South Pole

• Less overall dark time (as compared to gray time)
  than higher latitude sites
• Aurora
• Weather conditions
• Remote/not accessible

• Long winter night better phase coverage in a
  shorter time
• Constant altitude no diurnal airmass aliasing
• Cold, stable atmosphere reduces scintillation
• Low sky background
• Position of galactic plane in the sky

Keck Observatory
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Vulcan South Project

• 1999 NASA Ames begins Vulcan Project at Lick
  Observatory, California
• 2000 Someone realises the potential of the
  South Pole site
• 2001 Test deployment
• 2003 Build photometer
• 2004 Deploy photometer to South Pole in Jan.
  for winter obs. in 2004 and 2005.

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Vulcan South System

• Photometer 20cm aperture, f/1.5
• Camera 4k by 4k, giving a 7 by 7 degree field
  of view
• Filter centred on 675nm (red) and avoiding the
  OI line at 630nm and night sky lines beyond 720nm

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To be continued

• Camera currently being serviced in the US
• January install camera, get ready for
  observations (focus, etc.) and try to debug the
  Gmount some more
• April twilights
• May to September observing
• Next summer bring back data, start finding
  planets!