The Lowell Observatory Solar Telescope: A fiber feed into the EXtreme PREcision Spectrometer

TL;DR

The paper introduces the LOST solar feed for the EXPRES spectrometer, enabling high-precision solar observations to better understand stellar activity and improve exoplanet detection methods.

Contribution

It presents the design, implementation, and initial performance results of the LOST solar feed integrated with EXPRES, a high-resolution spectrograph for precise radial velocity measurements.

Findings

Achieved a ~137,500 spectrum with SNR of 500 in 150s

Daily RMS of 71 cm/s over three years

RMS of 55 cm/s when comparing simultaneous EXPRES and NEID data

Abstract

The signal induced by a temperate, terrestrial planet orbiting a Sun-like star is an order of magnitude smaller than the host stars' intrinsic variability. Understanding stellar activity is, therefore, a fundamental obstacle in confirming the smallest exoplanets. We present the Lowell Observatory Solar Telescope (LOST), a solar feed for the EXtreme PREcision Spectrometer (EXPRES) at the 4.3-m Lowell Discovery Telescope (LDT). EXPRES is one of the newest high-resolution spectrographs that accurately measure extreme radial velocity. With LOST/EXPRES, we observe disk-integrated sunlight autonomously throughout the day. In clear conditions, we achieve a ~137,500 optical spectrum of the Sun with a signal-to-noise of 500 in ~150s. Data is reduced using the standard EXPRES pipeline with minimal modification to ensure the data are comparable to the observations of other stars with the LDT. During the first three years of operation, we find a daily RMS of 71 cm/s. Additionally, having two EPRV spectrometers located in Arizona gives us an unprecedented opportunity to benchmark the performance of these planet-finders. We find a RMS of just 55 cm/s when comparing data taken simultaneously with EXPRES and NEID.