Precision radial velocities with CSHELL

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a near-infrared radial velocity technique achieving 58 m/s precision with CSHELL, enabling detection of exoplanets around M dwarfs and young stars, including recovering a known exoplanet.

Contribution

The authors develop a methodology to attain high-precision radial velocities in the near-infrared, expanding exoplanet detection capabilities for M dwarfs and young stellar objects.

Findings

Achieved 58 m/s precision in the K band on GJ 281

Successfully recovered the known exoplanet Gl 86 b

Discussed potential for detecting planets around young T Tauri stars

Abstract

Radial velocity identification of extrasolar planets has historically been dominated by optical surveys. Interest in expanding exoplanet searches to M dwarfs and young stars, however, has motivated a push to improve the precision of near infrared radial velocity techniques. We present our methodology for achieving 58 m/s precision in the K band on the M0 dwarf GJ 281 using the CSHELL spectrograph at the 3-meter NASA IRTF. We also demonstrate our ability to recover the known 4 Mjup exoplanet Gl 86 b and discuss the implications for success in detecting planets around 1-3 Myr old T Tauri stars.