TY - JOUR
T1 - Miniature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array I
T2 - Design, commissioning, and early photometric results
AU - Swift, Jonathan J.
AU - Bottom, Michael
AU - Johnson, John A.
AU - Wright, Jason T.
AU - McCrady, Nate
AU - Wittenmyer, Robert A.
AU - Plavchan, Peter
AU - Riddle, Reed
AU - Muirhead, Philip S.
AU - Herzig, Erich
AU - Myles, Justin
AU - Blake, Cullen H.
AU - Eastman, Jason
AU - Beatty, Thomas G.
AU - Barnes, Stuart I.
AU - Gibson, Steven R.
AU - Lin, Brian
AU - Zhao, Ming
AU - Gardner, Paul
AU - Falco, Emilio
AU - Criswell, Stephen
AU - Nava, Chantanelle
AU - Robinson, Connor
AU - Sliski, David H.
AU - Hedrick, Richard
AU - Ivarsen, Kevin
AU - Hjelstrom, Annie
AU - De Vera, Jon
AU - Szentgyorgyi, Andrew
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.
PY - 2015/4/1
Y1 - 2015/4/1
N2 - The Miniature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array (MINERVA) is a U.S.-based observational facility dedicated to the discovery and characterization of exoplanets around a nearby sample of bright stars. MINERVA employs a robotic array of four 0.7-m telescopes outfitted for both high-resolution spectroscopy and photometry, and is designed for completely autonomous operation. The primary science program is a dedicated radial velocity survey and the secondary science objective is to obtain high-precision transit light curves. The modular design of the facility and the flexibility of our hardware allows for both science programs to be pursued simultaneously, while the robotic control software provides a robust and efficient means to carry out nightly observations. We describe the design of MINERVA, including major hardware components, software, and science goals. The telescopes and photometry cameras are characterized at our test facility on the Caltech campus in Pasadena, California, and their on-sky performance is validated. The design and simulated performance of the spectrograph is briefly discussed as we await its completion. New observations from our test facility demonstrate sub-mmag photometric precision of one of our radial velocity survey targets, and we present new transit observations and fits of WASP-52b - a known hot-Jupiter with an inflated radius and misaligned orbit. The process of relocating the MINERVA hardware to its final destination at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in southern Arizona has begun, and science operations are expected to commence in 2015.
AB - The Miniature Exoplanet Radial Velocity Array (MINERVA) is a U.S.-based observational facility dedicated to the discovery and characterization of exoplanets around a nearby sample of bright stars. MINERVA employs a robotic array of four 0.7-m telescopes outfitted for both high-resolution spectroscopy and photometry, and is designed for completely autonomous operation. The primary science program is a dedicated radial velocity survey and the secondary science objective is to obtain high-precision transit light curves. The modular design of the facility and the flexibility of our hardware allows for both science programs to be pursued simultaneously, while the robotic control software provides a robust and efficient means to carry out nightly observations. We describe the design of MINERVA, including major hardware components, software, and science goals. The telescopes and photometry cameras are characterized at our test facility on the Caltech campus in Pasadena, California, and their on-sky performance is validated. The design and simulated performance of the spectrograph is briefly discussed as we await its completion. New observations from our test facility demonstrate sub-mmag photometric precision of one of our radial velocity survey targets, and we present new transit observations and fits of WASP-52b - a known hot-Jupiter with an inflated radius and misaligned orbit. The process of relocating the MINERVA hardware to its final destination at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in southern Arizona has begun, and science operations are expected to commence in 2015.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84946780083&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84946780083&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1117/1.JATIS.1.2.027002
DO - 10.1117/1.JATIS.1.2.027002
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84946780083
SN - 2329-4124
VL - 1
JO - Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems
JF - Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems
IS - 2
M1 - 027002
ER -